Disciplined show by bowlers after brilliant execution by Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli helped Royal Challengers Bangalore thrash Delhi Daredevils at their home ground Ferozeshah Kotla by 21 runs on Thursday.

Chasing the highest target of the tournament, Daredevils fought hard with Ross Taylor and Venugopal Rao but managed to score just 194/9, conceding a comprehensive victory to the visitors.

Zaheer Khan finished with 3/38 while Vinay Kumar ended up with decent figure of 2/35.

After Bangalore posted 215/1, Delhi lost both openers David Warner and Unmukt Chand early.

Zaheer Khan struck in the second over to dismiss Warner, while Vinay Kumar ended Unmukt Chand’s challenge in the fifth over to reduce Delhi to 45/2.

Prasanth Parameswaran sent back Mahela Jayawardene to give Delhi Daredevils third blow at the score of 69 in the ninth over.

Delhi Daredevils lost Venugopal Rao (36) after crossing 100-run mark, giving Royal Challengers Bangalore fourth success.

Rao shared 38-run stand with Ross Taylor before being caught by Harshal Patel off Muttiah Muralitharan with scorecard reading 107 after 11 overs.

Vinay Kumar dismissed dangerous Ross Taylor (55) just after Zaheer Khan sent back Naman Ojha raising Royal Challengers Bangalore hope for victory.

Zaheer Khan dismissed Ojha just after Delhi crossed 150-mark. Khan got Ojha caught by Saurabh Tiwary to reduce Delhi to 151/5.

Capitalizing on the breakthrough, Vinay Kumar got Taylor caught by Mayan Agarwal to rattle the hosts with scorecard reading 159 in seventeenth over.

Chris Gayle smashed a rollicking unbeaten 128, his first century of the season, to propel Royal Challengers Bangalore to a mammoth 215.

Gayle took some time to settle after being invited to bat by Mahela Jayawardene, who led Delhi in place of an indisposed Virender Sehwag, and then hit hapless Delhi bowlers at will all around the Feroze Shah Kotla ground.

Initially, he took 17 balls for his first 10 runs and then scored the next 90 in just 35 balls as he hit 13 sixes and seven fours in his whirlwind 62-ball unbeaten knock.

Together with his skipper Virat Kohli (73 not out), he rattled up a 204-run stand, highest for any wicket in the league this season. Kohli too looked in much better touch today as he scored freely and never looked uncomfortable.

The youngster faced 53 balls and hit 10 boundaries, including one six.

There was no escape from the Gayle ‘storm’ and Delhi sorely missed Morne Morkel, who was rested today as the hosts have already secured a berth in the play-offs.

Jayawardene did everything to stop a marauding Gayle but the West Indian was unstoppable as neither the spinners nor the pacers had an answer to the power-hitting of the left-hander.

At the start, Delhi pacers did a good job with Umesh Yadav bowling a fiery maiden over to Gayle and Varun Aaron dismissing Tillakaratne Dilshan (10) with his second ball.

Dilshan looked in good touch as he had driven Irfan Pathan for two exquisite straight drives in the opening over but a leading edge that flew to Pathan at mid-on brought about his end.

Kohli hit four elegant boundaries, two each off Yadav and Aaron immediately after arriving at the crease.

Delhi though did extremely well to contain Gayle till then. The explosive Caribbean faced 17 balls till the power-play and scored only 10 runs.

Gayle’s first six came off fellow Jamaican Andre Russell, who played in place of rested Morne Morkel, in the eighth over and second off Y Venugopal Rao in the 10th over as RCB reached 79 for one at half-way mark.

The stage was set for a big score and soon Gayle was his usual attacking self. He hit left-arm spinner Pawan Negi for a 106-meter long six and then completed his fifty with a long-off boundary off Russell.

All hell broke loose after that as Gayle hit Pathan and Negi for three sixes each and RCB went on to score 78 runs in the last five overs.

Source: Times of India

Kings XI Punjab severely dented the chances of Chennai Super Kings qualifying for the play-offs and kept themselves in the reckoning with a convincing six-wicket win in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the picturesque HPCA Stadium on Thursday.

Skipper Adam Gilchrist, making a comeback to the Kings XI set-up after a hamstring injury kept him out of nine matches, scored an unbeaten 64 of 46 balls to carry his team past the 121-run target set by Chennai.

Thus, Kings XI (16 points) moved into the fifth position behind Chennai (17). Punjab have to play table-toppers Delhi Daredevils while Chennai have finished all their 16 games.

Two wickets each by Praveen Kumar, Azhar Mahmood and Parvinder Awana helped Kings XI restrict Super Kings to a paltry total of 120 for seven and gain two crucial points.

Mandeep Singh (24) and Gilchrist gave their team a sprightly start, scoring 51 in six overs, before the Indian youngster got castled by Albie Morkel. In the absence of Shaun Marsh, Punjab’s batting line-up looked thin in star power. Nitin Saini (1) and David Hussey (9) put their team in a spot of bother by getting out in quick succession.

Gilchrist, however, held his end up, hitting out aggressively. He exploded towards the end, scoring 22 runs of Yo Mahesh’s 15th over and that sealed the win for Punjab.

Put in on a pitch with a greenish tinge, defending champions Chennai lost Murali Vijay (10) and Michael Hussey (7) without much on the board. Suresh Raina, who is the only player yet to miss a match in the IPL, smacked Mahmood for two sixes. However, he fell caught behind in the same over while slashing at a wide ball.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who promoted himself up the order, again played a lacklustre innings scoring six off 16 balls.

West Indian Dwayne Bravo came to the rescue of Super Kings when his team was reeling at 46 for four in the 11th over. He played a watchful innings of 48 off 43 balls, stringing small partnerships with Ravindra Jadeja (13) and Morkel (14) as Chennai stuttered to a below par score.

Source: Yahoo Cricket

It had all built up to that one moment. Gautam Gambhir, playing three spinners against the home side’s decision to stick to three fast bowlers at the Wankhede Stadium, had hoped at the toss that the pitch would turn later. Kolkata Knight Riders had just about recovered from a horror start to post a decent 140. Mumbai Indians had found run-scoring as difficult as Knight Riders had, but had lost only two wickets at the halfway stage.

The last ball of the 11th over, Sunil Narine bowled a good length delivery to Sachin Tendulkar, who went for the cut. The ball spun in a mile and cannoned into off stump off bat and pad. Had both not come in the way, it would have taken out leg stump. With one of the game’s greats not being able to pick Narine, the rest of the Mumbai Indians line-up had little chance. He finished with 4 for 15; had Lasith Malinga not got six off a dropped catch on the straight boundary, Narine could have had 5 for 9.

The 32-run margin was substantial in the end, and it was down to how swiftly Knight Riders barged in to the opening created by Tendulkar’s dismissal. The pressure was already on Mumbai Indians after Herschelle Gibbs had crawled to 13 off 24 deliveries, four of those runs being overthrows. When Tendulkar fell, the asking-rate had touched nine. Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard had hunted down a much stiffer target against Royal Challengers Bangalore a couple of day ago. It wasn’t to be today. Not on this pitch.

The Wankhede crowd waited for their all-star line-up to fire. They waited for the big hits to come. In vain. With 58 needed off 28, Shakib Al Hasan lured Rayudu out with a wider one to give Brendon McCullum an easy stumping. Jacques Kallis, who had got a ripper from RP Singh first ball, had Pollard edging a slow bouncer to McCullum. Next ball, he trapped Dwayne Smith in front with a skiddy delivery which nipped in. Rohit Sharma was Mumbai Indians’ only hope now; Narine had him caught by a diving McCullum off a leading edge. The rest caved in.

Smith’s fall had made it 96 for 6, exactly the same perilous position Knight Riders had found themselves in after being stunned early by an atrocious umpiring decision and a terrific ball from RP Singh. Their lower order and Yusuf Pathan rode on some fortune, though, to take 44 off the final 26 balls.

Stroke-making was hard as the usual Wankhede bounce combined with the ball not coming on. The pitch did not have any role to play in the first dismissal, though; umpire Subroto Das had. He adjudged McCullum lbw though the batsman was at least two metres out of his crease to a ball that pitched outside leg and would have missed off. Knight Riders were to get another rough one later, when Tendulkar was caught plumb in front first ball by Shakib, only to be denied by umpire Billy Doctrove.

RP Singh followed up the McCullum wicket by uprooting Kallis’ off stump with a ripper, getting a short of a length ball to swing in and zip through the gate. A stunned Knight Riders tamely allowed the home bowlers to build up the pressure.

Even Gautam Gambhir, who has had a golden run this season, found it difficult to score, and could not capitalise on two let-offs. He was dropped by the wicketkeeper and by Tendulkar at third man, but was bowled on 27 as he missed a Pollard cutter.

Knight Riders continued to struggle to time their shots, with Tiwary pottering to 17 off 27 deliveries at one stage. An inside edge off Pollard brought him four, and he hammered the next ball past mid-off for another. Harbhajan Singh and Malinga were hit down the ground for sixes.

From 6 for 2 to 89 for 3 seemed a creditable recovery, given the pitch, but three wickets for seven runs nearly undid Tiwary’s efforts. Yusuf, caught off a RP Singh no-ball, could not do much to break his poor run, but along with the lower order, managed to get Knight Riders to 140.

It hadn’t looked to be a challenging total at the break, it turned out to be a match-winning one, and all but took Knight Riders to the playoffs.

Abhishek Purohit is an editorial assistant at ESPNcricinfo

Mahela Jayawardene smashed unbeaten half-century to help Delhi Daredevils beat Kings XI Punjab by 5 wickets in an Indian Premier League match at the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium on Tuesday.

With the victory, Daredevils became the first team to qualify for the play-off stage of the IPL 5 with 20 points from 14 matches.

Jayawardene hit eight boundaries in his 49 balls 56 innings and added unbeaten 45 runs with the Irfan Pathan (19 not out) to take the hosts over the target with an over to spare.

Pathan hit three boundaries in his rapid 10-ball knock.

Piyush Chawla dismissed Naman Ojha (34) in the fourteenth over to break the 58-run fifth wicket partnership between Ojha and Mahela Jayawardene and reduced Delhi to 95/5 in 13.6 overs.

Ojha hit two sixes and three boundaries in his quick 29-ball innings.

Chasing 137-run target, Delhi lost four top-order batsmen inside six overs to start the run chase nervously.

Pacer Parvinder Awana struck twice in the sixth over to dismiss Ross Taylor (0) and Venugopal Rao (7). Awana’s effort rocked Delhi run chase as he reduced Daredevils to 37/4 in 5.4 overs.

Awana also struck with the very first ball to dismiss Delhi skipper Virender Sehwag (8) in the fourth over as the hosts were reduced to 28/2 in 3.1 overs.

Praveen Kumar gave Punjab early breakthrough in the third over when he dismissed David Warner (14).

Earlier, Umesh Yadav (3-21) and Varun Aaron (2-19) helped Delhi restrict Punjab to 136/8.

Electing to bat, Punjab lost wickets at regular intervals and managed to set a modest 137-run target for the strong Delhi batting line-up.

Skipper David Hussey remained unbeaten on 40 off 35 balls, which included a six and five boundaries, for Punjab but failed to stitch meaningful partnerships in the innings.

Praveen Kumar (8) got run out in the penultimate over as the visitors were reduced to 126/8 in 18.1 overs.

Pacer Umesh Yadav dismissed Piyush Chawla (10) in the eighteenth over to break the blossoming 29-run partnership between Hussey and Chawla.

Spinner Pawan Negi dismissed young Gurkeerat Singh (8) in the thirteenth over as Punjab lost wickets at regular intervals.

Azhar Mahmood became second victim of Yadav in the twelfth over as Punjab lost half-the-side for just 80 runs.

After a terrible mix-up with skipper David Hussey, Punjab batsman David Miller (4) got run out in the tenth over to add more agony to their team. Miller’s wicket reduced Kings XI to 63/4 in 9.4 overs.

Yadav got rid of Nitin Saini (15) in the eighth over soon after teammate Varun Aaron stuck twice in two overs to reduce Punjab to 54/3 in 7.2 overs. Saini hit two fours in his run-a-ball innings.

Aaron dismissed in-form Punjab batsman Mandeep Singh (21) in the sixth over to dent the Punjab run charge. Mandeep smashed five boundaries in his quick-fire 12-ball knock before Aaron got better of him.

Punjab lost Shaun Marsh (13) early in the fourth over when pacer Aaron struck with his very first ball and reduced Punjab to 24/1 in 3.1 overs. Marsh hit three boundaries in his 15-ball slow innings.

Earlier, Punjab skipper David Hussey won the toss and decided to bat against Delhi.

“It (toss) does not matter, we would have chosen to bowl anyway. Ross Taylor and Pawan Negi in, Roelf van der Merwe and Yogesh Nagar are out for us,” said Delhi skipper Virender Sehwag after losing the toss.

Punjab have made two changes in the side as they included David Miller and Harmeet Singh in place of Ryan Harris and Siddharth Chitnis.

Teams:

Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag (capt.), Mahela Jayawardene, Irfan Pathan, Umesh Yadav, Naman Ojha (wk), Venugopal Rao, Pawan Negi, Morne Morkel, David Warner, Varun Aaron, Ross Taylor.

Kings XI Punjab: David Hussey (capt.), Harmeet Singh, Piyush Chawla, Parvinder Awana, Azhar Mahmood, Nitin Saini (wk), David Miller, Mandeep Singh, Praveen Kumar, Shaun Marsh, Gurkeerat Singh.

Source: Times of India

With Chennai Super Kings needing five runs to win off the final delivery, Rajat Bhatia, who had bowled MS Dhoni and conceded only four from the previous five balls, bowled a full toss. Dwayne Bravo, who had missed a heave off the fifth ball, heaved again, and this time he hit the ball high into the night sky. Kolkata Knight Riders’ captain Gautam Gambhir, fielding in the circle, kept his eyes fixed on the ball as it began its descent, and grimaced as he watched it fall agonisingly out of reach of his fielder at long-on, and just over the boundary. The Super Kings were out of the dug out, craning their necks to see where the ball landed, and once they saw it was a match-winning six, there were several streaks of yellow speeding to embrace Bravo, who stood with arms aloft having kept his team alive in the IPL.

Had the match been tied, it would have been less of a surprise, for Super Kings’ chase had followed a pattern eerily similar to Knight Riders’ first innings.

In pursuit of 159, Michael Hussey and M Vijay added 97 runs in 10.1 overs before Sunil Narine, who continued to confound batsmen with his variations during his spell of 4-0-14-2, dismissed both of them in the space of three balls. Hussey had demonstrated impeccable timing on a pitch that demanded application, hitting four sixes in a half-century that threatened to make short work of the chase, before he top-edged a sweep. Vijay was bowled trying to cut a straight one.

When Knight Riders had been sent in after losing the toss, Gambhir and Brendon McCullum had set off at breakneck speed, adding 99 in 11.2 overs before they were dismissed in the space of five deliveries. Gambhir had continued his prolific scoring streak, taking charge of accelerating his team’s innings while McCullum played second fiddle, relatively speaking. They were setting Knight Riders for a formidable total when McCullum was run-out and Gambhir was bowled after the ball came off his inside edge and pad, gone for 62 off 43 balls.

With the Knight Riders openers gone and two new batsmen at the crease, Super Kings began to drag the run-rate back, by striking regularly. The hosts slipped from 99 for 0 to 128 for 5. Jacques Kallis was unlucky to be given caught behind while sweeping, because the ball came off the arm, and Yusuf Pathan hit his customary solitary six before holing out to Bravo on the long-on boundary. Bravo caught Manoj Tiwary there soon after and Knight Riders were eventually kept to 158.

Super Kings went down the same path. After the Hussey-Vijay stand, they were slowed down and then lost Suresh Raina to a run out in the 14th over. MS Dhoni played out four consecutive dot balls against L Balaji as the gap between runs required and balls remaining began to grow. Balaji conceded two runs off the 14th over, and Bhatia five in the next. Super Kings now needed 44 off 30 balls.

After the 17th over of the first innings, Knight Riders had been 127 for 4. After the 17th over of the chase, Super Kings were 127 for 3. They lost Faf du Plessis to the first ball of the 18th. With 27 needed off the last two overs, Dhoni changed the course of the chase. He nearly beheaded Marchant de Lange, such was the ferocity with which he clubbed the first ball to the straight boundary. The next was a full toss that disappeared through deep midwicket and the third was a towering six over long-on.

Super Kings were favourites, needing only nine to get off the final over, but Dhoni was bowled off its second ball, missing Bhatia’s slower ball. Bhatia went on to bowl three more exceptional deliveries, but his last was the full toss that allowed Super Kings to move to No. 4 in the league.

George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo

Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard made a wonderful partnership of 118 runs and guided Mumbao Indians to victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore. Today Royal Challengers Bangalore were in green outfit. In the chase of 172 runs for victory, Mumbai Indians lost first 3 wickets in no time. They were at a score of 19 for loss of 3 wickets. Soon, they even lost the next two wickets and were at a score of 51 for a loss of 5 wickets.

At this stage, Mumbai Indians were in trouble. But, Ambati Rayudu, and Kieron Pollard show an excellent performance and chased down the required score easily. Amabti Rayudu made outstanding 81 runs without being out in 54 balls with 6 boundaries, and 4 sixers. And Pollard was also not out and made 52 runs in 31 balls with 5 boundaries, and 3 sixes.

Earlier, Royal Challengers Bangalore lost their crucial wickets of Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli in the 3rd over itself and were at a score of 11 runs for loss of 2 wickets. After them, Saurabh Tiwary made a poor start, and was unfortunately got hit-wicket for an individual score of 21 runs.

After him AB de Villiers with a score of 14 runs with Dilshan took the score to 87 for a loss of 4 wickets. After the loss of de Villiers wicket, apart from the opener Tillakaratne Dilshan, and Mayank Agarwal could not score well. Mayank Agarwal made 64 runs in 30 balls with 6 boundaries and 4 sixes, and Dilshan made 47runs in 50 balls with 4 boundaries, and a sixer. On the whole, they made a score of 171 in 20 overs.

Squads

Mumbai Indians: Harbhajan Singh, Herschelle Gibbs, Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, c Harshal Patel, Ambati Rayudu, Dwayne Smith, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, RP Singh, Munaf Patel.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Saurabh Tiwary, AB de Villiers, Mayank Agarwal, Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Kotarangada Appanna, Harshal Patel, Muttiah Muralidaran.

David Hussey shines as Punjab keep their head above water…

Deccan Chargers did it again. The Hyderabad franchise on Sunday night gave a perfect demonstration of what it takes to be a permanent resident of the basement.

After batting first and posting a huge total (190-4) through their most consistent batsmen, Deccan conspired to give it all away at the doorstep of victory. Eighty-two runs were needed by Kings XI Punjab, chasing to stay alive in the tournament, in just six overs with their frontline batsmen back in the pavilion, when David Hussey decided to step it up.

The Aussie smashed an unbeaten 65 in just 35 balls, adding 45 in 3.2 overs with Gurkeerat Singh, as Punjab stole an unlikely win from the jaws of defeat. It has to be mentioned that it was the unheralded Gurkeerat (29 n.o., 12b) who did the brunt of the scoring in the last over, bowled by Manpreet Gony, when 16 were required for victory.

Gurkeerat blazed a six and two boundaries to take Punjab home by a margin of four wickets, leaving Chargers in their usual sorry state of despair, yet again. The win leaves Punjab in seventh place, but they have three matches left – two against league leaders Delhi Daredevils and one against defending champions Chennai Super Kings.

Punjab did not begin their chase well. They were three down in the eighth over with just 56 on the board. And when Azhar Mahmood departed following a brisk cameo, it appeared to be all over for the home team. But Hussey came in, pulling T.P. Sudhindra for six and then going on a rampage against Amit Mishra, who was pulverized for 21 runs in the 15th over, as the Punjab skipper sought to meet the sky-high asking rate.

Another maximum against Sudhindra got Hussey to his fifty, and boundaries continued to flow thick and fast as first Piyush Chawla and then Gurkeerat wasted no deliveries in getting into their groove.

Earlier, Chargers’ most reliable batsmen associated to good effect as the team posted 190 after electing to bat. Shikhar Dhawan and Cameron White struck their fifth half-century each of IPL-V as they combined for 96 runs. The two came together after Parthiv Patel and Kumar Sangakkara departed early, and did not allow their relentless pace of gathering runs to slacken at any stage.

White was dropped twice (on 34 and 37) and capitalized on the reprieves to go berserk towards the end. Daniel Christian came in and threw his bat around. Christian’s late fireworks took Chargers to a total in the vicinity of 200, and they lost despite being in the driver’s seat for the most of the match.

Source: Yahoo Cricket

When Rahul Dravid of Rajasthan Royals was asked at the toss to name the changes to his line-up, he paused for a few seconds before giving up trying to recollect the second spinner. Ajit Chandila ensured that his captain and the rest of the world weren’t going to forget his name. The little-known offspinner from Haryana responded with a hat-trick in only his second game, reducing Pune Warriors to a train wreck early in their chase of 171. Warriors extended their losing streak to eight – the worst in IPL history – while Royals stayed in the hunt for the playoffs.

It proved a masterstroke by Dravid tossing the new ball to Chandila. Warriors didn’t know what to expect from the tall spinner, only two first-class matches old. With a run-up of barely a few steps, and a languid action to boot, Chandila tossed it up at such an agonisingly slow pace that it took an eternity for the ball to land. Jesse Ryder opted to hammer him out of the attack but ended up mis-hitting it to Shane Watson pedaling back at mid-on.

Sourav Ganguly tried to nudge the next delivery but the ball dribbled back towards the wicketkeeper Shreevats Goswami who broke the stumps before Ganguly could ground his bat. Chandila struck with the first ball of his second over, drawing Robin Uthappa forward and beating him on the drive before Goswami whipped off the bails. Chandila’s split hat-trick was all the more glossy because the victims were international batsmen. It was the seventh hat-trick in IPL history and the first of this edition.

Chandila had time to sneak in another wicket, off a simple caught and bowled to get rid of Anustup Majumdar, and finished with figures of 4 for 13. Warriors were tottering at 26 for 4, a position from which they never recovered from. Royals never allowed a partnership to get past 34, they conceded just 11 boundaries in the innings and lit up an otherwise drab phase after the hat-trick with a jaw-dropping fielding effort at the boundary by Johan Botha and Ajinkya Rahane to get rid of Rahul Sharma. Botha caught it at the edge of the rope at long-off and relayed it to an alert Rahane who claimed the catch.

Royals batted Warriors out of the match thanks to half-centuries by Watson and Rahane. Ganguly returned to lead Warriors but he and his team-mates let themselves down with a flat performance in the field that allowed the Watson-Rahane partnership to flourish.

The urgency in the running between the wickets picked up when the pair came together. Rahane in particular was impressive in his calling as he pushed the ball to the slower men in the deep, starting with Ganguly, and the few extra seconds they took to get to the ball cost Warriors extra runs.

Watson biffed boundaries through his favoured on-side region. He began with a slog over midwicket off Bhuvneshwar Kumar, before pounding consecutive sixes off Murali Kartik, one of which was a full toss clubbed over the second tier at deep midwicket. As the pitch was on the slower side, Watson’s powerful bat-speed gave his shots more velocity. He punished the spinners with powerful pulls and drives, fetching two free boundaries via misfields. Steven Smith, known for his acrobatic saves at the boundary, overran the ball at deep midwicket, while Kartik too let one slip between his legs.

Watson sped to his fifty with a clipped four to deep square leg and a six over deep midwicket off Jesse Ryder. However, he played all over a yorker from Ashish Nehra, leaving his team at a healthy 123 for 2 in the 15th over. Warriors were guilty of not bowling to their field, bowling half volleys on the pads with the fine leg up. Rahane proceeded towards his fifty with wristy clips and punches through the off side. His knock ensured that Royals didn’t lose their way after Watson’s departure. Minutes after the chase got underway, the game was all but won by Royals.

Kanishkaa Balachandran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Chasing 115-run target, Chennai Super Kings lost Michael Hussey (38) after he put on a 75-run opening stand with Murali Vijay against Delhi Daredevils in a crucial Indian Premier League match at the MA Chidambaram stadium on Saturday.

Irfan Pathan struck in the eleventh over to give Delhi a crucial breakthrough but it seem too little too late. Hussey hit a six and five boundaries in his quick 32-ball innings as he laid a solid platform for the hosts to win the match comfortably.

Hussey and Vijay helped Chennai raced to fifty in just 6.3 overs against Delhi.

Electing to bowl, pacer Ben Hilfenhaus (3-27) led a discipline Chennai attack to restrict Delhi to 114/5.

Yogesh Nagar top-score for the visitors with unbeaten 43 off 47 balls which included a six and a four in his patient knock. Irafan Pathan remained unbeaten on 13 off 17 balls.

For Chennai, Albie Morkel (1-15) and Ravichandran Ashwin (1-17) took a wicket each as they supported the red-hot Hilfenhaus perfectly.

Delhi lost Venugopal Rao (26) after he tried to revive their innings with Nagar. Ashwin dismissed Rao in the fourteenth over to break the 48-run fifth wicket partnership between Rao and Nagar. Rao hit two sixes in his quick 24-ball innings.

Sent in to bat, Delhi lost four top-order batsmen inside six overs to give upper hand to hosts Chennai.

Albie Morkel dismissed Mahela Jayawardene (8) in the sixth over to reduce Delhi to 24/4 in 5.2 overs.

Delhi lost Jayawardene soon after Naman Ojha (3) became the third victim of Chennai pacer Ben Hilfenhaus three balls earlier.

Table-toppers Delhi started their innings on the wrong foot as they lost David Warner (8) and skipper Virender Sehwag (4) inside three overs.

Hilfenhaus continue his good outing in the league as he dismissed Warner in his second over to reduce Delhi to 12/2 in 2.1 overs. Warner hit a four in his short 9 balls stay but he failed to carry on with his century-making form in the last game against Deccan Chargers.

The Aussie pacer Hilfenhaus gave hosts Chennai a perfect start when he got better of Sehwag in the very first over of the match.

Earlier, Chennai skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to field against Delhi.

Chennai bring in spinner Shadab Jakati in the playing eleven replacing pacer Yo Mahesh.

Delhi made two changes in the team as Roelf van der Merwe replaced Andre Russell and Umesh Yadav returned in the place of Shahbaz Nadeem.

Teams:

Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt/wk), Srikkanth Anirudha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Dwayne Bravo, Ben Hilfenhaus, Michael Hussey, Ravindra Jadeja, Shadab Jakati, Albie Morkel, Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay.

Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag (capt), Mahela Jayawardene, Irfan Pathan, Umesh Yadav, Naman Ojha (wk), Venugopal Rao, Yogesh Nagar, Morne Morkel, Roelf van der Merwe, Varun Aaron, David Warner.

Source: Times of India

Rohit Sharma and Herschelle Gibbs, playing his first game this season, set up Mumbai Indians with a 167-run stand that helped end Kolkata Knight Riders’ unbeaten run of seven games. Rohit, who made his maiden IPL ton, was in complete command and Gibbs settled in quickly despite having watched the bulk of the season from the dug out; the pair justified their captain’s decision to bat, piled on a formidable total that proved beyond the hosts’ reach and preserved Mumbai Indians’ place in the top four.

For a team that had been among the most consistent in this IPL, Knight Riders’ bowling line-up slipped up considerably. Batsmen were given a generous dose of short-pitched deliveries together with width that gave them several opportunities to open up. Both Rohit and Gibbs displayed a ruthlessness that ensured Knight Riders were made to pay. The only highlight for the hosts was the early fall of Sachin Tendulkar; from there on, it was one-way traffic.

Rohit relished the short ball and seemed to have the time to rock back and dispatch it with ease. He pulled Brett Lee for a six over square leg before slashing Shakib Al Hasan twice through point, even as the left-arm spinner pushed one through quicker the second time round. Sunil Narine, difficult to pick, beat the bat on occasion but there was plenty of release available at the other end to deal with him cautiously. Rohit slog-swept Shakib for six and then targeted Jacques Kallis.

Kallis was taken for 18 in the 11th over, Rohit sending him over deep square leg and bringing up his half-century with a flick past short fine leg. Rajat Bhatia’s dibbly-dobblies weren’t spared either, Rohit even sweeping him for four in an over that fetched 19. Returning for a new spell, Lee struggled for the right length – Rohit launched him over long-on, cracked him through point, clipped him over midwicket and brought up his century – the eighth Indian to score a ton in the IPL – in the same over.

Gibbs was comfortable playing second-fiddle but, even then, showed how destructive he could be in his own right. He nonchalantly charged out to Lee to hammer him over extra cover three times in one over, stepped out to Bhatia and Narine to collect more boundaries and marched along to a half-century, giving Mumbai Indians an opening combination they could stick to for the remainder of their campaign.

Knight Riders were dealt a severe blow when they lost their captain Gautam Gambhir – who scored five fifties in his previous nine games – in the first over, bowled while trying to cut. His opening partner Manvinder Bisla top-edged a catch next over, and despite an attempted revival from Kallis, Knight Riders couldn’t get far enough.

On a slowish track, the Mumbai Indians bowlers varied their pace and didn’t dole out too many freebies. Even though Knight Riders bat deep and had Kallis and Yusuf Pathan together for almost half the innings, they struggled to keep up with the required-rate. Kallis, though, managed to reach his first half-century this season and Yusuf, who’d had a forgettable season with the bat before this, found some form during his unbeaten 40. The defeat was a blip Knight Riders could afford, given their place at No.2, but they have stiff competition.

Siddhartha Talya is a sub editor at ESPNcricinfo