KKR win easily

Riding on a disciplined bowling and fielding display, KKR first restricted Kings XI to 124 for seven after sent into bowl, and then skipper Gautam Gambhir led from the front with a fine unbeaten half century to overwhelm the target with 21 balls in hand.

Gambhir scored an unbeaten 66 off 44 balls with the help of seven fours and a six to hold the chase together and see his side home. Gambhir was ably supported by Jacques Kallis, who scored an unbetaen 30 off 23 balls. The duo stitched unconquered 53 runs for the third-wicket as KKR scored 127 for two in 16.3 overs. 

Earlier, Kings XI batsmen lost wickets at regular intervals to be restricted to the modest total after opting to bat at the PCA stadium.  Captain Adam Gilchrist, who retired hurt in the sixth over with a right hamstring problem only to return later to drag his side out of trouble, top-scored with an unbeaten 40, while Shaun Marsh made a 30-ball 33 with the help of four boundaries. Kings XI batsmen struggled from the onset against a determined KKR bowling line up and it could be gauged from the fact that only three of their batters could manage double figures.

Wily West Indian off-spinner Sunil Narine (2/24) and Brett Lee (2/26) starred with the ball for KKR, sharing four wickets between them. Laxmipathy Balaji (1/20) and Rajat Bhatia (1/23) also picked up a wicket each for the visitors. KKR's started their run chase on a blistering pace, racing on to their fifty inside the sixth over.

Brendon McCullum (15) was the initial aggressor as he clobbered Praveen Kumar for two boundaries in the first over.  KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir matched his partner stroke by stroke and welcomed Harmeet Singh with a huge six over mid-wicket and a four in the bowler's opening over.

After the initial burst, McCullum found boundaries hard to come by, which finally led to his dismissal. Struggling to score freely, the Kiwi hit a Piysuh Chawla's (2/19) short, way down the leg side delivery straight to Dimitri Mascarenhas at short fine-leg, but not before stitching a 53-run opening stand with Gambhir.

Chawla picked up his second wicket four overs later when Manvinder Bisla (11) dragged a delivery on to his stumps. Gambhir, on the other hand, played a calm and composed innings and notched up his half century in just 36 balls.

In Kallis, Gambhir found a perfect partner as they duo went about their business in style.  Kallis struck little-kwown Bhargav Bhatt for back-to-back four and a six to finish off the run chase in emphatic fashion.

Kings XI's last year's hero, Paul Valthaty once again disappointed as he fell early, outside edging a Lee delivery to Bisla behind the stumps in the third over. To make matters worse for Kings XI, Gilchrist had to retired hurt in the sixth over.

Kings XI failed to get a substantial partnership as Mandeep Singh (6), Marsh, David Hussey (10), Paras Dogra (6) and Mascarenhas (9) all departed in quick intervals. Marsh's dismissal in the 14th over, however, turned out to be a little controversial.

The left-hander underedged an attempted cut off a Lee delivery which just seemed to have carried to Bisla behind the wicket. But the batsmen was not satisfied and walked away only after checking with the keeper.

The dismissal also brought Kings XI owner Preity Zinta on to the ground as she was not satisfied with the decision. She, however, left the field only after Gilchrist intervened. Towards the end, Gilchrist and Chawla (9) tried their level best to shoot up the run rate but failed.

Gayle set up the game for RCB nail Pune in a thriller

IPL 2012

MATCH: RCB VS PUNE WARRIORS

TOSS: Pune won the toss, and elected to bat first

RESULT: Bangalore won by 6 wkts

MOM: Chris Gayle

Needing 21 off the last over, Tiwary took a single on the first delivery of Ashish Nehra to give strike to de Villiers.  The South African then smashed the second ball for a boundary and followed it by two consecutive sixes to make things easier for Bangalore.

With four required of last two balls, Villiers took a single off the fifth ball to bring Tiwary back on strike. The southpaw didn't let pressure mount on him and sailed the final delivery into the crowd over the rope to finish the game for Bangalore on style.

At halfway stage during their chase, RCB were 63 for two with Gayle at the crease. Although Gayle hit couple of huge sixes off Ashish Nehra, he wasn't at his dangerous best as he failed to find the gaps.

Virat Kohli too was taking time to get into the groove. Credit should be given to Bhuveneshwar Kumar who bowled three tight overs during the front 10. It was only after Kohli was dismissed by Angelo Mathews that Gayle decided to play his signature game.

Leg-spinner Rahul Sharma bore the brunt as Gayle launched into him hitting five consecutive sixes as 31 runs came off that over and RCB seemed to be back on track.

Gayle raced to 81 off 47 balls as he hit Ashish Nehra to notch up his eighth six but the veteran seamer bowled a perfect delivery in the blockhole that cleaned up Gayle. The Jamaican had scored 81 off 48 balls with four boundaries and eight sixes.

He smashed five sixes in an over from Rahul Sharma just after reaching his half-ton.

Ashok Dinda gave Pune first breakthrough by scalping Tilakaratne Dilshan (4) after Pune Warriors scored a massive 182/6 at the M Chinnaswamy stadium.  Dilshan was caught behind stumps while trying to flick Dinda on leg side. Marlon Samuels then dismissed Mayank Agarwal (9) to give Bangalore second blow at the score of 42 in six overs.

royal-challengers-bangalore win over PWI

royal-challengers-bangalore win over PWI

Earlier, local boy Robin Uthappa's belligerent knock of 69 along with useful contributions from Jesse Ryder and Marlon Samuels helped Pune Warriors India set a challenging 183 for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Pune openers Jesse Ryders and Robin Uthappa got off to a cracking start adding 63 runs for the first wicket in only seven overs. The Royals introduced offie Tillekratne Dilshan in the second over where he was hammered for 13 runs which included a six and four.

Ryder started from where he left in the last match against CSK while Uthappa showed why he is so highly rated in this format.

Just when it looked that Ryder-Uthappa duo would murder the bowling, Harshal Patel provided RCB the breakthrough as Kiwi opener tried to pull him over lbackward square leg only to be caught by Mayank Agarwal at the boundary.

Uthappa had a reprieve when he tried to sweep left-arm spinner KP Appanna and TV replays showed that ball jumped off his gloves to be caught by AB de Villiers. The umpire however gave him not out and the next ball was dispatched into the deep mid-wicket stand.

The Karnataka lad quickly raced to his fourth IPL half century reverse sweeping Dilshan past short third-man for his second consecutive boundary. His 50 had seven fours and two sixes and came off only 34 balls. The Warriors reached 100 in the 11th over.

RCB responded with two quick wickets in two overs. R Vinay Kumar first picked up an woefully out-of-form Sourav Ganguly whose slash was easily caught at sweeper cover by Mayank Agarwal and in the next over Vettori sent back Uthappa 69 (45 balls 4x9 6x2).

Marlon Samuels (34, 20 balls, 1x4, 2x6) and Steven Smith (16) added 47 runs in only 4.5 overs before couple run-outs saw the back of both players. Especially Samuels who looked in fine touch and Warriors looked like having finished 15 runs short in the end.

RCB made three changes inducting Dilshan, KP Apanna and Harshal Patel in place of Muttiah Muralitharan, Mohammad Kaif and Sreenath Aravind, who all played last game against Rajasthan Royals. PWI brought in pacer Bhuvaneshwar Kumar replacing orthodox left-arm spinner Murali Kartik.

Rajasthan Royals beat Deccan Chargers by five wickets

Rajasthan required 11 runs in the last over. Dishant Yagnik (9 not out off 3 balls), who just joined dangerous Brad Hogg after Johan Botha’s departure, hit two consecutive fours to hand Rajasthan an unbelievable win.

Rajasthan-Royals-Squad-2012

But it was Hodge who revived Royals’ hopes after the fall of Rahane while chasing a mammoth 197 for a victory. When Hodge came on to bat, Rajasthan needed 76 runs off just 40 balls, an uphill task considering the fact that they just lost in-form Rahane, who again played a quickfire 31-ball 44.

The win looked more unlikely when another power-hitter Owais Shah departed for just 12. At that stage, they were struggling at 135/4 in 15.2 overs. 62 runs needed off just 28 balls, almost an impossible task. But the old Australian war-horse, took the onus of putting the Rajasthan team on top. He first, in the company of Johan Botha put on 37-run stand off only 17 balls, setting the tone of an unlikely win.

Hodge slammed 4 fours in the 17th over of the innings off premier fast bowler of the world, Dale Steyn to change the complexion of the match and turned the tide in their favour. From there on, everything went in their favour. He finally remained unbeaten on 48 which was decorated with 6 fours and 2 sixes.

Rajasthan’s batting again clicked as their openers-Dravid (42 off 24 balls) and Rahane-again gave them a rapid start. Dravid looked more dangerous than Rahane. He hit a six over extra-cover which would have made Sehwag a proud man. They reached 62 in just 5.5 overs before Christian bowled Dravid with a perfect yorker.

Apart from leg-spinner Amit Mishra (3/32), every Deccan bowlers went for a plenty of runs.

Earlier, a superb 94-run opening stand from Kumar Sangakkara and Shikhar Dhawan and blistering unbeaten 58 by J P Duminy at the end helped Deccan Chargers post a huge 196/2 in the allotted 20 overs after they won the toss and decided to bat first on a placid Jaipur track.

Duminy clobbered five sixes during his entertaining knock of 58, and along with Dan Christian (29 not out) put on an unbeaten 88-run 3rd wicket partnership to guide his struggling team to almost 200.

Coming on to bat at number 4 after Shikhar Dhawan’s departure, Duminy continued the good work put on by the openers. He initially contented with singles and doubles but once they crossed 15th over, he launched a blistering attack on the oppositions, hitting 5 mighty sixes, mostly on the leg side.

Batsmen

• Rahul Dravid (Captain)
• Brad Hodge
• Ajinkya Rahane
• Owais Shah
• Kevon Cooper
• Aakash Chopra
• Ankeet Chavan
• Faiz Fazal

Bowlers

• Shaun Tait
• Sreesanth
• Samad Fallah
• Siddharth Trivedi
• Deepak Chahar
• Aditya Dole
• Pankaj Singh
• Amit Singh

All-rounders

• Shane Watson
• Johan Botha
• Brad Hogg
• Paul Collingwood
• Sumit Narwal
• Abhishek Raut
• Stuart Binny
• Ashok Menaria

Wicketkeepers

• Dinesh Chandimal
• Shreevats Goswami
• Amit Paunikar
• Pinal Shah
• Dishant Yagnik

Duminy was also ably supported by Christian with a sensible 19-ball 29. Though he was overshadowed by Duminy during the most part of his stay, his innings was also important in the context of the match as he ensured that they did not lose any wicket, and Duminy, who was hitting all over the park, could stick to his attacking game.

Openers-Sangakkara (44) and Dhawan (52)-gave Deccan a flying start, hitting boundaries in every corner of the ground. They reached 50 in 5.2 overs.

It’s Sangakkara who took the attack to the oppositions first. But soon Dhawan came into his own and started hitting boundaries and outscored his partner. Dhawan got his fifty off just 37 balls with the help of 8 fours. Their 94-run opening stand laid the foundation for a huge score they finally posted.

DELHI DAREDEVILS won by 7 wickets

Delhi Daredevils (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

DELHI DAREDEVILS won by 7 wickets

Maximum sixes award: Harbhajan Singh. 

Best catch of the match award: Ross Taylor.

By virtue of this victory, Delhi move to the top of the table with 6 points from 4 matches. Mumbai stay at 4th, with 6 points from 5 games.

A comprehensive win for Delhi. Thrashing Mumbai by 7 wickets and 31 balls to spare. Mumbai were never in the game. After being shot out for 92, the Mumbai bowlers came out with any fight and Delhi cruised through. Sehwag is showing signs of coming back to form and thet could be good for Delhi later on in the tournament. Surprisingly, Harbhajan did not bowl at all.

Everything fell in place perfectly for Delhi, right from winning the toss, as they bundled out the hosts for a paltry 92, the lowest team total of the current edition, and then overhauled the target by losing just three wickets with 5.1 overs to spare.

Chasing a meagre total, skipper Virender Sehwag top scored for Delhi with a patient 32 off 36 balls while Mahela Jayawardene remained unbeaten on 17 in company of Kiwi batsman Ross Taylor (11).

Taking full advantage of the MI batsmen's rash display with the bat, the Delhi bowlers attacked from the first over to reduce the hosts to a sorry-reading 44 for six by the 12th over to make it a virtual no-contest at Wankhede Stadium track, offering good bounce.

Host skipper Harbhajan Singh made a counter-attacking 33 off 22 balls, with five fours and a six, after Rohit Sharma prospered a bit while making a chancy 29 off 27 balls with five fours, but the rest of the batsmen self-destructed.

The below-par score was MI's second-lowest aggregate in five seasons of IPL, slightly better than the 87 they made against Kings XI Punjab last year, and the first sub-100 score by any team this season.

The wickets were shared by the five Delhi bowlers -- Shahbaz Nadeem taking two wickets in his first two overs to start the slump, which was later feasted on by Morne Morkel (2-22), Ajit Agarkar (2-27), Umesh Yadav (2-11) and Irfan Pathan (1-12).

Openers Sehwag and Naman Ojha started the run-chase on a sound note by putting on 34 before the latter became the first of two victims of left arm pacer Rudra Pratap Singh, also getting his first chance to play this season.

Singh sent back Ojha, after the batsman had struck two fours off Clint Mackay for two successive fours, as a mistimed pull ended his innings. He also got rid off Kevin Petersen to finish with 2 for 22.

Sehwag was lucky when on 16 in a team score of 45 for 1 to be let off by third man Levi off a slash that he played against Singh. He put his team well on path to victory though he was not there to score winning runs.

When MI batted, they got off to a shock start by losing both their South African openers with only five runs on the board. Jacobs tried a cross-batted heave against left-arm spinner Nadeem and was bowled comprehensively for a duck in the second over.

His compatriot Levi too did not prosper much and was also guilty of trying an audacious pull off Nadeem and under-edged the ball on to the stumps to leave MI reeling in the fourth over after being sent in to bat.

Rohit Sharma tried to attack from the first ball and played a couple of glorious lofted off drives but was also lucky that three other ambitious shots were top-edged to the boundary, two of those off Morne Morkel.

Even as Rohit was settling down he saw the backs of Ambati Rayudu (4), out to a very poorly judged and attempted single, and key batsman Kieron Pollard.

Rayudu scampered for a non-existent run after being struck on the pads by Ajit Agarkar who was given his first match of the season. Partner Rohit never budged from the non-striker's spot. The batsman was so far down the pitch that even a misdirected throw by fielder Yogesh Nagar could not help him regain the crease.

Tottering at 30 for 3, things became worse when Pollard was caught trying to cart Umesh Yadav out of the ground and getting a leading edge for the catch to drop into the waiting hands of Ross Taylor. The Kiwi then caught Rohit off Agarkar in the next over to leave MI at 41 for five.

Dinesh Karthik too played poorly as his attempted pull off Yadav resulted in a dolly catch to mid on fielder Kevin Petersen as the ball hurried on to the batsman and at 44 for 6 in the 11th over, MI's tail was exposed.  Skipper Harbhajan Singh used the long handle to good effect by slamming Agarkar for two fours and a six in the 12th over that yielded 17 runs to help MI pass the 50 mark.

But for the MI captain and his stand of 34 runs with McKay, who was playing his first game of IPL 5, the total would have been even more pathetic.

Delhi Daredevils

2nd Innings

Naman Ojha    c Harbhajan Singh b RP Singh    13

        5.1  OUT! Caught! The combination of Singhs gets rid of Ojha. Short ball outside off, 131.7 kph, Ojha goes for the pull but it climbs onto him and he gets a top edge. The ball goes high in the air and Harbhajan calls for it from mid-wicket and takes it easily. Ojha departs for 13, DD 34/1 in 5.1 overs!

Virender Sehwag   c Richard Levi b Pragyan Ojha    32

       12.1  OUT! Caught! A bit late in the game but a wicket nevertheless. Flighted outside off, 76.9 kph, Sehwag jumps out of his crease and lofts this miles in the air. Does not get the distance and Levi takes it with ease at long on. DD 74/3 in 12.1 overs!

Kevin Pietersen    c Davy Jacobs b RP Singh      9

         7.6  OUT! Straight to the man! Short ball outside off, 132.3 kph, Pietersen goes for the pull but mistimes it and hits it straight to Jacobs at mid-wicket. Pietersen departs for 9, DD 52/2 in 8 overs! RP finishes with figures of 4-0-24-2.

Mahela Jayawardena    not out    17

       

Ross Taylor     not out      11

Yogesh Nagar

Irfan Pathan

Ajit Agarkar

Morne Morkel

Umesh Yadav

Shahbaz Nadeem

Extras (b 0, lb 5, w 6, nb 0)    11

link : Without Malinga-Tendulkar no magic For Mumbai Indians

Thanks : yahoo cricket

Kings XI Punjab won by 2 runs

IPL2012

MATCH: KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS VS KINGS XI PUNJAB

TOSS: Kolkata won the toss, and elected to field

MOM: Sunil Narine

RESULT: Punjab won by 2 runs

Chasing a target of 135 on a tricky Eden pitch, KKR needed nine runs off the final over but medium pacer Harmeet gave away only six runs. Debabrata Das, who played a lovely cameo (35, 23 balls, 3x4, 1x6), failed to hit a boundary off the final delivery as home team ended on 132 as Kings XI won their second match of the tourney.

Debabrata, who played for KKR in first edition of IPL before being dumped during three subsequent seasons almost took his team to victory with some lusty blows after they were down in the dumps at 88 for six.

Along with Harmeet, India seamer Praveen Kumar bowled a brilliant penultimate over where only four runs were scored. Also spinners Piyush Chawla (3/18) and Bhargav Bhatt (2/22) should be lauded for sharing five wickets for only 42 runs in the eight overs bowled by them.

It was pity that KKR offie Sunil Narine's brilliant figures of five for 19 were undone by some indiscreet shot making on the part of home team batsmen -- especially Manvinder Bisla and Yusuf Pathan.

On a track, where the spinners are getting fair amount of assistance, a target of 135 was always going to be difficult. While Jacques Kallis (1) was gone early -- thanks to a brilliant catch by Paras Dogra, skipper Gautam Gambhir hit a flurry of boundaries on his way 22 before he offered a tame return catch to Dimitri Mascarenhas.

At 30 for two, in-form Bisla (27, 25 balls, 1x4, 1x6) and Manoj Tiwary (20, 27 balls, 1x4) added 43 runs for the third wicket and it looked KKR will coast home easily. However left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt angled one into Tiwary who was caught plumb in-front as KKR were 73 for three. Within another six runs, it was Bisla who played all over a Piyush Chawla delivery to be bowled.

Pathan tried a paddle sweep but the ball jumped off his pad straps to clip the bails. KKR went further down in the dumps as Shakib Al Hasan lobbed an easy catch to Gilchrist off Chawla's bowling as home team stuttered at 88 for six.

Earlier, Narine foxed Kings XI Punjab with a brilliant five-for that helped KKR restrict the visitors to 134 for nine in stipulated 20 overs. Put into bat, Kings XI batsmen failed to read Narine's deliveries as the Trinidad spinner had figures of 4-0-19-5 to show for his efforts which also proved why KKR bought him for a handosme price of $700,000.

The Trinidad spinner after being introduced in the third over took two prized scalps of Adam Gilchrist (5) and an in-form Shaun Marsh (1) in two overs to dent the Kings XI progress.

Gilchrist along with his new opening partner Mandeep Singh started positively with the duo racing to 14 for no loss in two overs but Narine's spell (2-0-5-2) cost them dear as they were reduced to 21/2 in 4.2 overs.  Gilchrist tried to hit Narine across the line only to balloon it up as Manoj Tiwary at the short cover took an easy catch.

Narine then breached through Shaun Marsh's defence with a beauty that straightened after pitching. The two dismissals meant that the Kings XI progressed at snail's pace before Mandeep Singh launched into Jaidev Unadkat handing him some rough treatment.

Kallis did a fine job, rather quietly, at the other end, conceding 11 from his three overs to further unsettle the visitors plan.  In between, Rajat Bhatia did an excellent job with his slow medium pace returning with two for 14 in the slog overs as the Kings XI boys struggled to find a partnership going.

Kings XI Punjab held their nerve in the slog overs to restrict Kolkata Knight Riders to 132/7 and clinched a thrilling two runs victory in their match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

In another IPL match went down to the wire as Kolkata needed 9 runs to win in the last over but fell two runs short of their target.

Piyush Chawla bowled the magical spell as he dismissed Manvinder Bisla, Yusuf Pathan and Shakib Al Hasan in quick succession to dent Knight Riders chase.

Debabrata Das, who remained unbeaten on 35 off 23 balls, led the Knight Riders fight back after they lost their six wickets inside 90 runs side. But the batsman effort was not enough to take Kolkata to their consecutive victory.

Kings XI Punjab's Bhargav Bhatt and Dimitri Mascarenhas struck to remove Jacques Kallis and Gautam Gambhir respectively and give Kolkata early blows.

Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders produced stunning bowling display, led by Sunil Narine's five-wicket haul, to restrict Kings XI Punjab to 134/9 in 20 overs. It was their tail-enders who gave the team a competitive total in their last overs.

Sunil Narine claimed five wickets for 19 runs to pile misery on Kings XI and outplayed the opposition's batting. Kings XI Punjab was never in match as they lost their wickets at regular intervals.

Mandeep and David Hussey revived Kings XI Punjab innings as they added 52 runs for the 3rd wicket after losing two early wickets.

Punjab suffered a big blow as they lost David Hussey when the batsman got run-out in the mix-up with Paras Dogra.

Mandeep Singh mistimed his slog-sweep off Shakib Al Hasan after playing useful knock of 38 runs.

Kolkata Knight Riders' spinner Sunil Narine gave Kings XI Punjab early jolts. Narine struck in his successive overs to remove Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh cheaply as Kings XI Punjab were struggling at 21/2 4.2 overs.

Punjab skipper Adam Gilchrist continued his poor run in the tournament as he just managed to score 5 off 9 balls. Earlier, Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir won the toss and decide to bowl against Kings XI.

Rajasthan royals team ride on Rahane's century to outclass Challengers

IPL2012

MATCH: ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGLORE VS RAJASTHAN ROYALS

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

MOM: Ajinkya Rahane

RESULT: Rajasthan won by 59 runs

Ajinkya Rahane`s spectacular maiden IPL ton powered Rajasthan Royals to an emphatic 59-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore on their home ground at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore on Sunday. Rahane who opened the innings for Rajasthan remained unbeaten on 103 runs which came off just 60 balls.

By the end of 10 overs, Rajasthan had scored just 61 runs without any loss. At the end of 13th over they had scored 82 runs for the loss of two wickets and no one had a clue what was about to follow. It was the 14th over bowled by Sreenath Aravind that was the turning point for Rajasthan Royals.

Rahane scored six consecutive boundaries in that over as Rajasthan innings completely changed from there. And all of the six boundaries were well executed as Rahane seemed to be scoring boundaries at will after that over. His partner Owais Shah who was at the non-striker's end too changed gears from there on.

Vettori bowled the 15th over he tried to compensate for the damage done in the previous over as he gave away just 7 runs. For the 16th over he brought Gayle to control the massive run flow. Shah clobbered Gayle over long-on for a six which was followed by another one. Gayle’s over produced 21 runs and there was no looking back for Rajasthan.

Rahul Dravid and Rahane shared an opening stand of 62 runs which took over 10 overs and the run-rate wasn’t impressive at all though they had wickets in hand. Towards the end, it was raining sixes as none of the bowlers were able to control the run flow. Aravind was hit for 48 runs in just three overs. Vinay Kumar also proved to be very expensive as he gave away 51 runs in 4 overs without a wicket.

With the likes of Gayle, Kohli and de Villiers by their side, Bangalore would have fancied their chances to chase down the formidable total. Openers Mayank Agarwal and Gayle provided a brisk start as they scored 42 runs in just 4.2 overs.

Pankaj Singh who was playing his first match in IPL 2012 made a great comeback to the shorter format as he scalped both the openers in the fifth over. Bangalore who now depend a lot on Gayle were stunned as he was bowled by Pankaj for just 8 runs.

Another superb spell of seam bowling was yet to follow. Siddharth Trivedi came into the attack and the middle order collapsed trying to play him across the line of almost similar deliveries. The first to perish was de Villiers (6) followed by Kohli (22) and Saurabh Tiwary (17). None of the Bangalore batsmen looked like they were determined to make a match of it as the late onslaught of Rajasthan innings had created tremendous pressure.

Undoubtedly Rajasthan seamers bowled really well as they shared 8 wickets between themselves. Trivedi was the pick of the bowlers as he picked up 4 wickets for just 25 runs in 4 overs. But it was Pankaj Singh who derailed Bangalore innings as Gayle and Mayank collapsed in a matter of few deliveries. Pankaj and Amit Singh picked up two wickets each.

Needless to say, Ajinkya Rahane was declared the Man of the Man for his breathtaking innings which helped his team reach the top of the table with 6 points from 5 matches with a better run rate than Pune Warriors and Mumbai Indians who are also on 6 points. Rahane is now once again the orange cap holder with 260 runs. It was also the first century of IPL 2012.

Pune Warriors India pull victory from Chennai super kings

Pune Warriors India pull victory from Chennai super kings

Match 16

TOSS: Chennai Super Kings won the toss, and elected to bat first

RESULT: Pune won by 7 wkts

The Dada v Dhoni duel ended with the Pune Warriors India winning their second consecutive match at their home ground by seven wickets. Powered by Jesse Ryder’s unbeaten 73 and a 44-run cameo by Steven Smith PWI are back on top of the IPL 2012 table. 

Pune Warriors India

Jesse Ryder came well when it mattered most slamming an unbeaten 56-ball 73, as Pune Warriors stunned defending champions Chennai Super Kings by seven wickets in the Indian Premier League, on Saturday.

Steven Smith was equally brilliant as he smashed 44 off just 22 balls with the help of four boundaries and three sixes. Chasing 156 for victory, the Warriors needed 34 off the last three overs. Smith carted Dwayne Bravo for a six and a four to bring the equation down to 22 off 12.

Murali Vijay’s poor run in IPL 2012 continued as the opener departed after contributing just eight runs to the 43-run first wicket stand. The batsman flicked Ashok Dinda to Angelo Mathews at deep square-leg. In contrast to Vijay, his opening partner, Francois du Plessis picked up from where he had left off in the previous innings. The South African all-rounder, who hit two sixes and four boundaries, batted with ease until Rahul Sharma had him stumped. Although he missed out on a half-century, du Plessis claimed the Orange Cap thanks to his 33-ball 43, which took his overall tally to 171 runs. 

Ryder then launched into Nuwan Kulasekara as he pulled and cut the medium pacer for two fours on either side of the wicket. Requiring 10 in the final over, the Warriors cantered home with four balls to spare after Smith hit a four and a six over cover off Yo Mahesh.

Ryder hit seven fours and a six during his stay at the wicket. Robin Uthappa started the chase in earnest, pulling Albie Morkel for a six over mid-wicket in the second over.

But the Karnataka batsman could not sustain the initial momentum as he was run out by Kulasekara. Ryder was, however, unfazed by the dismissal of his partner as he went about the task in a calculated manner.

After hitting Kulasekara for three boundaries on the leg-side prior to Uthappa's wicket, the burly Ryder found the fence against Morkel and Dwayne Bravo at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium. But what must have hurt the Warriors at that point of time was the lack of support from the other end.

Yet to find form with the bat, the trend continued for skipper Sourav Ganguly who, despite digging on for some time, could not score more than 16. Marlon Samuels flopped again as he got out to a horrendous shot off the bowling of Mahesh after wasting 15 deliveries for his eight runs, before Smith and Ryder turned the tide in their team's favour.

Earlier, Ravindra Jadeja once again proved his worth with a brisk 26-ball 44 that lifted Chennai to a fighting total. Jadeja took centrestage after opener Faf du Plessis slammed 43 off just 33 balls to set the tone for the visitors.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni contributed 26 off 28 balls while Suresh Raina struck 20 off 19. Opting to bat, Chennai were off to a flyer as du Plessis went hammer and tongs, especially against left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra.

In all, du Plessis hit five fours and two sixes, while Jadeja slammed four boundaries and two sixes. Du Plessis collected 18 runs off Nehra's first over and soon the fifty was up on the board for the Super Kings.

Brought in to bowl the fourth over, Nehra was welcomed with a drive through the off-side. The second ball was carted over the extra cover for another boundary, and Du Plessis got the maximum when he nonchalantly went down the ground to hit Nehra over his head off the bowler's fourth ball.

The show did not end there as the South African sweetly drove Nehra through the extra cover region for another boundary. Thanks to du Plessis' onslaught, Chennai were able to maintain a health run-rate, which however dropped a bit after his dismissal.

Du Plessis' was an important wicket from the Warriors' point of view and the credit for that goes to Rahul Sharma who foxed the batsman with extra bounce in the 10th over. Leg spinner Sharma struck again when he had Raina, caught brilliantly by Steven Smith in the deep.

Chennai got a bit of momentum back as Jadeja picked Murali Karthik for special treatment, lofting him over long-off and long-on for a four and six respectively. Jadeja then hoicked Marlon Samuels over long-on for a massive six,  three  overs after guiding the same bowler to the left of the sweeper fielder. 

IPL 5 Highlights

Pune Warriors have registered their first victory against Chennai in three matches in the IPL - winning % 33.33.

Pune Warriors are at the top of the points table with six points in four games in the present tournament. Mumbai Indians are second with three victories out of four.

Francois du Plessis, with 171 runs at an average of 34.20 in five matches, is the leading run-scorer in the IPL.  Francois du Plessis became the first batsman to post 10 sixes in the IPL 2012. 

With seven wickets at 11.28 runs apiece in four matches, Ashok Dinda is the top wicket-taker for Pune Warriors.

Smith and Ryder put on a match-winning unbroken fourth wicket partnership of 66 - the highest for any wicket for Pune against Chennai.

The aforesaid partnership is the first fifty-plus stand for Pune against Chennai.

Steven Smith's magnificent unbeaten 44 off 22 balls is his highest for Pune Warriors in the IPL.

Jesse Ryder (73 not out off 56 balls) has posted his highest innings in the IPL, obliterating the 60 against Delhi at Mumbai on April 17, 2011.

Ryder has been named the Man of the Match for the first time in the IPL. Ryder's match-winning knock is the highest individual innings for Pune Warriors in the IPL, eclipsing Yuvraj Singh's unbeaten 66 against Delhi Daredevils at Mumbai on April 17, 2011. Ryder has posted one half-century each against Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi.

The top wicket-taker for Chennai Super Kings this year so far is Ravindra Jadeja - seven wickets at 9.85 runs apiece in five matches. 

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (89 runs at 17.80 in five matches) is yet to click in this competition.

Dhoni has completed his 1500 runs in the IPL - 1514 at an average of 36.92 in 64 matches.

Pune Warriors, with a seven-wicket triumph, have emulated a record for their largest win in terms of wickets. Against Punjab at Mumbai on April 10, 2011, they had recorded their first win by seven wickets.  The first team to have lost three matches in the IPL 5 is Chennai Super Kings.

Chennai Super Kings (155 for five) have recorded their highest total against Pune Warriors in the IPL, eclipsing the 145 for two at Dr D Y Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai on April 27, 2011. Pune Warriors (156/3) have registered their highest total against Chennai Super Kings.

Ravichandran Ashwin could bag only one wicket at 118.00 runs apiece in the IPL 5 - his strike rate is 110.00.

Man-of-the-Match: PWI opener Jesse Ryder for his match-winning 56-ball 73* 

Next match ::

Royal challengers bangalore V/s  Pune Warriors India  on  17th April 2012