They were the IPL’s nomads, they needed to win five games in a row to reach the semi-finals, and things looked heavily loaded against them. But Deccan Chargers, the defending champions, made it. On a slow pitch at Feroz Shah Kotla, Andrew Symonds’ sparkling 54 gave Deccan a defendable total, which they protected with an inspired fielding performance led by Rohit Sharma and disciplined bowling. Paul Collingwood kept Delhi in the chase until the end but he lacked the firepower, and support, to pull off a victory.

It came to 17 runs from the final over but Chaminda Vaas sealed Delhi’s fate with a fine over, mixing his slower ones with near-perfect yorkers. Deccan had earlier wobbled at the start before the Symonds show and slowed to a crawl post his fall to reach 145 for 7. It was a slightly slow pitch, better than the previous tracks in Feroz Shah Kotla though, and the chase was unlikely to be a stroll for Delhi. And it wasn’t.

Rohit, who didn’t contribute much with the bat, took couple of breathtaking catches to tilt the game Deccan’s way. He flew very low to his right at first slip to grab a high-quality catch to remove Virender Sehwag. A short while later he flung himself to his left at short midwicket to get rid of Gautam Gambhir. It’s tempting to solely focus on Rohit but both half-chances that he converted were created by some good bowling. Chaminda Vaas had deceived Sehwag, who had just creamed couple of boundaries, with a slower off cutter and Pragyan Ojha had beaten Gambhir in the flight, forcing him to drag it much squarer than he had originally intended. Just before Gambhir, Tillakaratne Dilshan had fallen, trying to paddle scoop but was done in by the slower one from Harmeet Singh, who had delivered the ball as if he were a legspinner bowling a skidding slider.

The triple strike had nearly derailed the chase and considering Paul Collingwood’s recent struggles this IPL against spin, Delhi depended heavily on Dinesh Karthik if they were to turn things around. When Gambhir fell the equation read 107 from 82 and when Mithun Manhas was run out after a misunderstanding with Collingwood, Delhi needed 78 from 49 deliveries. It was at this point Karthik entered the fray but he didn’t last long as he was done in by Ojha. It landed on the middle and off and turned just enough to go past the lame poke to peg back the off stump. It was the shot that sealed the fate of Delhi. Collingwood hanged around for a while and was even dropped couple of times by, of all the people, Rohit and Symonds but couldn’t finish it off.

It was indeed an inspired bowling performance from Deccan but if it weren’t for a superbly-crafted knock from Symonds, the bowlers would not have had anything to defend. Deccan solely depended on Symonds. The story of their innings was summarised after the first time-out in the tenth over. Amit Mishra bowled with a slip and a silly point to the new batsman Mitchell Marsh, but when Symonds came on strike most fielders were back patrolling the boundary. Delhi were on the attack and knew only one man posed a threat. Marshall preserved his wicket and allowed Symonds to play a fine knock.

Initially, Symonds reserved all his aggression for Amit Mishra: It was a fine battle because Mishra troubled him with his googlies, which Symonds picked only off the pitch, but he would time and again counterattack with a muscled hit. He moved down the track to lift a leg break over long-off, followed it by biffing a googly into the same stand and slugged a flighted delivery from outside off over long-on. In between, he edged a legbreak between the keeper and first slip and just when Mishra was seemingly on the ascent, Symonds would break free.

He crashed Tillakaratne Dilshan’s offbreaks for two sixes and even played a delicate late cut against Paul Collingwood to collect a boundary. Deccan had reached 116 for 4 in the 15th over and things were set for a final assault when Symonds fell. Mishra had just switched to bowling from round the stumps to Symonds and had his man chipping straight to long off. Delhi applied the squeeze from then on, just as they had done in the first half of the game, but the total proved beyond their reach.

Sriram Veera is a staff writer at Cricinfo

Gautam Gambhir cracked an unbeaten 57 as Delhi Daredevils spanked Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in a low-scoring IPL match to virtually seal a semifinal berth on Thursday.

Captain Gambhir led a remarkable recovery with a resolute batting display with Mithun Manhas (25 not out) after his side made a messy start in the run chase of 113 by losing their top three batsmen for just six runs in the second over.

The duo shared 75 runs from 70 balls for the unfinished fifth wicket as Delhi romped home with eight balls to spare and snap their three-match losing streak at M A Chidambaram Stadium.

Gambhir, who fought dehydration by applying water on his head and body on few occasions, struck five fours in his 56-ball innings, his second IPL 3 half century, and hit the winning runs, a two, as Delhi reached 113 for four in 18.4 overs on a pitch which offered turn to slow bowlers .

Earlier, Chennai Super Kings could make just 112 for nine after electing to bat with left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra taking three wickets for 26 to lead a superb bowling display by Delhi Daredevils.

With the win today, their seventh in 13 matches, Delhi are virtually in the semifinals with 14 points. They play Deccan Chargers at home in their last league match on April 18.

Despite the loss, Chennai are still not out of semifinal race with 12 points from 13 matches though the paltry total after batting first took down their net run rate to plus 0.270.

Pacer Dough Bollinger was the most successful bowler with two wickets for 24 runs in his four overs while Ravichandran Ashwin and Shadab Jakati got a wicket apiece.

Delhi made a disastrous start in their run chase, losing their top three wickets for just six in the second over and looked like throwing away the match before Gambhir and Manhas rescued them.

On a track which offered turn to slow bowlers, Chennai opened bowling with a spinner and Ravichandran Ashwin did not disappoint his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni by removing dangerous David Warner in his third ball for a duck.

Warner tried to play a cut shot but failed to negotiate the turn Ashwin extracted and the ball spooned to cover for Murali Vijay to take a diving catch.

Virender Sehwag (4) played his characteristic style and fell the same way as he has been doing for a while in IPL III, out cheaply for four after playing a big shot early on as the thick edge off Doug Bollinger’s first ball was easy picking for Matthew Hayden at slip.

Three balls later, Tillakaratne Dilshan (1), who returned to playing eleven after being dropped due to poor form, did not last long as he tried an expansive shot off Bollinger only to see inside-edging the delivery and his furniture being disturbed.

Gambhir and wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik started the repair work by sharing 32 runs from as many balls for the fourth wicket before the latter was out for a 16-ball 13 in the seventh over.

Karthik top-edged a pull shot off Jakati for S Badrinath to take a well-judged catch at midwicket to reduce Delhi to 38 for four.

The early wickets saw run rate plummeting and Delhi were 56 for four at the halfway mark. After Karthik’s dismissal Gambhir and Manhas did not have a four for five overs as they ran mostly for singles.

The duo opened up from the 16th over onwards and struck some lusty blows off Ashwin, Suresh Raina and Bollinger to ease past the target of 113 with eight balls to spare.

Manhas gave able support to Gambhir and his 32-ball 25 contained two fours.

Earlier, left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra took three wickets for 26 to lead a superb bowling display by Delhi Daredevils as they restrict Chennai Super Kings to a paltry 112 for nine.

Needing to win the match for a semifinal berth, Chennai failed to apply themselves against a disciplined Delhi bowlers as their top six batsmen were back at the hut by the halfway mark for just 55 runs after electing to bat.

S Badrinath top-scored with a 29-ball 30 while Murali Vijay (17), Suresh Raina (15) and Michael Hussey (15) got the starts but failed to convert them to big scores as Chennai slumped to their lowest IPL III total.

For Delhi, Nehra took important wickets of openers Vijay and Matthew Hayden and that of Badrinath in his four overs. Sehwag chipped in with a superb two for 18 from his four overs while Dilshan, Amit Mishra and Dirk Nannes got one each.

Source: NDTV Cricket

Kieron Pollard finally lived up to his bumper signing with a brutal innings that undermined what, for the most part, had been a spirited performance from Delhi’s bowlers and confirmed Mumbai’s place in the final four. His 13-ball 45, laced with five sixes, powered Mumbai to a challenging score to which Delhi, despite their power-paced line-up, simply failed to measure up. The 39-run defeat leaves Delhi tied on 12 points from 12 games with at least three other teams, leaving no margin for error hereafter in their aim to reach the semi-final.

On a track that was aiding movement, spin and bounce, Delhi, who had kept Mumbai on a leash for much of their innings, faltered badly at the death. And when David Warner and Virender Sehwag had blazed away in their chase, they squandered the early edge despite reprieves offered by Mumbai’s fielders.

In what proved to be the match-turning event, Gautam Gambhir bestowed medium-pacer Andrew McDonald with the responsibility of bowling the last over of Mumbai’s innings. Facing him was Pollard, who had looked adept against pace but lacked conviction against the spin of Sarabjit Ladda, whom he had edged and miscued in his previous over. Mumbai, despite their acceleration, could still have ended with a below-par total but McDonald doled out two full tosses and a short delivery that were dismissed for sixes in an over that fetched 25, and increased Mumbai’s tally in the last five to 75.

Warner had redressed the damage somewhat, by putting Delhi’s chase on course at the start. He targeted Zaheer Khan in the second over, taking his right foot out of the way and hammering two fours and six and followed up by smacking Dilhara Fernando for consecutive fours before being undone by his go-to ball, the split-finger slower delivery.

The same delivery almost accounted for Sehwag, who was dropped by Ali Murtaza, and when Gambhir was let off by Pollard in the sixth over, it appeared Mumbai would struggle to defend their target. The pair had begun the IPL on a high, playing crucial roles in enabling Delhi take an early lead in the tournament, but their performances had tapered off thereafter. The track had slowed down but had little to do with both their dismissals, which followed in quick succession. Gambhir spooned a catch back to Harbhajan Singh, and a misunderstanding, and the consequent run-out, ended Sehwag’s stay in the eighth over.

Delhi had raced to 69 at the end of the Powerplay, their highest this IPL, but lost five wickets for 22 runs in 31 balls to drift out of contention. Murtaza made up for his lapse in the field by snaring AB de Villiers and Dinesh Karthik with arm balls, and Pollard, who had helped run Sehwag out, added one more, getting rid of Paul Collingwood.

The capitulation did little justice to what had been, for the most part, a disciplined effort from Delhi’s bowlers. Tight lines and largely accurate lengths, backed up by some movement and bounce, ensured the big shots were kept at bay for most of the innings.

There were only two intended boundaries struck in the Powerplay, as Tendulkar opted for a game of steady building and leaving enough ammunition in store for the late surge. Tendulkar looked busy during his innings, driving Amit Mishra inside out and attempting to late-cut and paddle McDonald. Despite the steady progress, the boundaries were cut off, and he was caught at extra cover. Mumbai, at the halfway stage in their innings, had limped to 66 for 2, their slowest start in the tournament.

Ambati Rayudu and Saurabh Tiwary, Mumbai’s finds this tournament, showed more desperation, breaking a 28-ball boundary drought. Tiwary was the more aggressive, smoking two sixes and a four before being deceived by a slower delivery from Sangwan to be bowled.

But the much-needed release came in the 16th over, as JP Duminy scored three consecutive fours off Mishra, and Pollard mixed craftiness with power at the death, mistiming a ball for six and scooping Nehra over the ropes behind fine leg. Aiming for the blockhole, Delhi’s bowlers often erred, gifting full tosses that were treated aptly by Pollard, and his assault on McDonald more than compensated for Mumbai’s travails for much of the innings.

Siddhartha Talya is an editorial assistant at Cricinfo

If the batsmen were looking for trouble, boy, they came to the right place. The Feroz Shah Kotla track was back to its Champions League shenanigans, and Kings XI Punjab, having seen Delhi Daredevils fail to read its nature soon enough, kept their heads in what seemed a meagre chase on paper, also keeping alive their remotest of outside chance to make it to the semis. Only 21 boundaries were hit in 38.2 overs on a pitch that offered variable bounce and appreciable turn right from the first ball, and whose slowness made it hard to time shots.

The Punjab bowlers were smart and accurate, two of Delhi’s big three were consumed by silly running, the others collapsed, and hence the below-par total. While Punjab were sensible in the chase, they couldn’t create a comfortable gap between their run rate and the required rate until Yuvraj Singh hit a four and a six in the 14th over.

The nature of the pitch was not so apparent in the first four overs of the afternoon. Delhi had got off to another flier when madness struck: Gautam Gambhir and David Warner were run out within three balls of each other, and only 69 runs came in 15.5 overs after that. The spinners bowled 12 overs between them for 55 runs – four of them inside the Powerplay, and Juan Theron, the specialist pace bowler, was used only for two overs, that too at the death.

Even after Virender Sehwag’s dismissal to the first ball he faced, Punjab would have been disappointed with the first 3.4 overs: without hitting even one shot in the air, Delhi raced away to 39, including two sets of five wides. The next delivery, though, Gambhir cut straight to short third man, was called for a single by Warner, and then sent back with no chance to get in. Either way there would have been a run-out: there was no single available. Two balls later, Warner played a similar shot, and Paul Collingwood responded in similar manner.

From there on, Punjab spinners employed a vicious vice grip on the batsmen: only two boundaries came in the rest of the innings. Following Powar’s opening act, Piyush Chawla feasted. Collingwood’s lbw wasn’t as bad as it looked; it was worse. He sat back and intended to read Chawla off the pitch, and was caught dead plumb to a straight topspinner. Daniel Vettori was defeated by a perfect Chawla googly. Thirty-nine for 1 in 3.3 had become 58 for 4 in 10 overs, and it was down to Dinesh Karthik to take Delhi to a fighting total.

Karthik tried various tricks to get quick runs, sweeps, reverse-sweeps, moving in the crease, but could never get away. When he tried to force the pace off the coming-back Irfan Pathan, he holed out to long-on, for 17 off 35. Mithun Manhas, Delhi’s middle-order mainstay for years in Ranji Trophy, played sensibly after that, and managed to go at about run a ball for his 26, an effort that took Delhi beyond 100.

Mahela Jayawardene walked out to open with Irfan, sent presumably to get some quick runs, but it was the classier batsman who made sure Punjab didn’t crumble in the chase. While Irfan holed out to deep midwicket, Jayawardene kept playing the orthodox shots and scored at a run a ball, which was better than the rate required.

In the fourth over of the chase, he scored a lovely inside-out boundary and followed it up with the first six of the match, a clean strike over long-on. Still even Jayawardene found it difficult to time the ball, a few of his attempted big shots ended up inside the infield, and on this pitch a collapse couldn’t have been too many corners away.

When Jayawardene fell at the end of the 11th over, for a 35-ball 38, he had left Punjab 47 to get off 54, which soon became 41 off 42. In the 14th over, though, Yuvraj managed two clean hits in quick succession, a cluster by the standards of this match. He guided Rajat Bhatia past short fine, followed by a heaved six over midwicket. After that the equation was manageable, and the late hiccup through Kumar Sangakkara’s wicket only teased Delhi for having over-aimed during their innings.

Sidharth Monga is a staff writer at Cricinfo

In stark contrast to the silence that accompanied the listless defence against Kings XI Punjab, the Eden Gardens faithful responded passionately to a charged performance from Kolkata Knight Riders, which derailed Delhi Daredevils’ chase to secure an invaluable 14-run victory. At the heart of the turnaround was Sourav Ganguly, who scored a half-century to build a challenging total, after which he fielded like few believed he could: the direct hit that ran out Gautam Gambhir ended a threatening 99-run partnership and turned the game Kolkata’s way.

The result took them level on 10 points with Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore, the fourth-placed team.

It nearly didn’t happen for Kolkata though. Virender Sehwag, who was reprieved on 7 when the umpire failed to hear or see an edge, threatened to deliver Delhi their seventh win. His partnership with Gambhir put Delhi on course and he completed a 34-ball half-century, his slowest in the IPL. It was greeted with silence by Eden Gardens. Delhi needed 48 off 32 balls with seven wickets in hand when Ajit Agarkar’s inswinger crashed into Sehwag’s stumps, and the slide had begun.

Ajantha Mendis, chosen ahead of Shane Bond because of a dry pitch, had Kedar Jadhav caught at cover – Ganguly jumping to intercept a hard drive – in the 17th over. The next, from left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla, was pivotal. He bowled Farveez Maharoof with one that pitched middle and hit off, before reacting athletically to run out Rajat Bhatia three balls later.

The decisive blow was struck by Ashok Dinda in the penultimate over when Dinesh Karthik, Kolkata’s last threat, pulled to Brendon McCullum at midwicket. His exit left Delhi needing 30 off 10 balls, a task too hard for Daniel Vettori and Amit Mishra. It was fitting that Dinda landed the last blow, for he had struck the first during an astonishing opening over. He hurried David Warner with four skiddy deliveries, cramping him for room, before beating him with the fifth – a quick one that uprooted offstump before Warner had brought his bat down. Delhi knew then that they were in for a scrap.

Unlike Ganguly, who used the pace of Dinda, Agarkar and Angelo Mathews, Gambhir instructed his bowlers – from Maharoof to Rajat Bhatia – to take the pace of the ball. It didn’t work immediately for Kolkata made their best score at the end of ten overs this season – 88 – and had all wickets intact.

Chris Gayle, who had scored 40 off 21, fell soon after though, missing a swipe against Bhatia, and Ganguly followed in similar fashion against Vettori. Brendon McCullum was run out cheaply too and Kolkata scored only 30 runs between overs 12 and 16 to reach 130 for 3.

The innings needed acceleration and it was provided by Mathews and Tiwary. Mathews had been dropped Bhatia on 10 – a caught and bowled opportunity – and he made Delhi pay with two well-aimed blows over long-on. Tiwary joined in the hitting right at the end, and they boosted the innings by taking 18 runs off Mishra’s last over. Their partnership was worth 70 in 6.5 overs, and it helped set Delhi a testing target in a match vital to Kolkata’s semi-final chances.

George Binoy is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo

Paul Collingwood struck a breezy 46-ball 75 before bowlers wrecked havoc as Delhi Daredevils inched closer towards booking a semifinal berth beating Royal Challengers Bangalore by 37 runs in their Indian Premier League match here on Sunday.

Openers Virender Sehwag (35) and David Warner (33) set the tone but it was Collingwood’s blitzkrieg, bejewelled with three fours and seven sixes, that catapulted Daredevils to a competitive 184 for five after the home team skipper Gautam Gambhir opted to bat first.

The hosts then put up a disciplined bowling performance to restrict Bangalore to 147 for nine to keep their slate clean against the Anil Kumble-led side and moved one place up to the second spot in points tally.

Spinner Amit Mishra and paceman Pradeep Sangwan picked up three wickets each giving away 32 and 22 runs respectively, while Farveez Maharoof, Daniel Vettori and Rajat Bhatia accounted for one wicket apiece at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium.

South African Jacques Kallis picked up his fifth fifty of IPL 3 but his 42-ball 54 was not enough as the Bangalore outfit lost wickets at regular intervals and was left to do the catch up act after a slow start to their run-chase.

Chasing 185 to win, Bangalore rushed to 25 in three overs after Kallis slammed two fours in the first over and picked up a couple more in the next two overs.

But opener Cameron White’s (4) wicket in the fourth over put brakes on the RCB innings as Kallis and Kevin Pietersen picked up ones and twos to build up the innings.

However, Sangwan’s yorker cleaned up Pietersen as RCB slumped to 52 for two in 9.2 overs.

Kallis and Robin Uthappa then tried to break the shackles and picked up a couple of sixes off Daniel Vettori in the 11th over, but Warner took a stunning catch to get rid off Uthappa in the next over.

Needing 105 off 45 balls, Ross Taylor walloped three sixes — two over mid-wicket and one over square-leg — to take Bangalore to 105 for three in 14 overs.

But Taylor’s 10-ball 22 innings was cut short by Bhatia when he had the New Zealander trapped in front of the wickets.

Kallis also perished in the very next over giving a simple catch to Collinwood.

Needing 79 off 34 balls, Virat Kohli (13), Vinay Kumar (3), Rahul Dravid (14) and Abhimanyu Mithun (5) tried their bit but it was not enough.

Earlier, Collingwood’s innings helped the home team gather a healthy total in 20 overs as the Englishman completed his second IPL 3 half-century.

Sehwag gave Delhi a blistering start as only fours and sixes flew from his bat. The India opener took the bowlers to the cleaners and blasted five fours and two sixes during his 22-ball cameo.

After a silent first over off Kumble, which yielded just two runs, Sehwag slammed two fours in the second over off Vinay Kumar. The swashbuckling batsman then biffed Kumble for two fours and a six in his second over.

New bowler Mithun was pumped into the attack and straight away he was introduced with a six by Sehwag but the lanky pacer had the last laugh as he castled him in the next ball and Delhi lost its first wicket in fifth over.

Gambhir then stepped in the middle but his journey was cut short by a brilliant piece of fielding by debutant KP Appanna as Delhi slipped to 52 for two in 5.4 overs.

Collingwood and Warner then added 31 runs for the third-wicket partnership. Warner was most destructive as he plundered consecutive sixes off Appanna in the ninth over before being removed by Kumble in the next over.

Karthik marked his arrival with a four off Kumble but White took a blinder two balls later in Appanna’s over to dismiss the right-hander as Delhi slumped to 90 for four in 10.3 overs.

However, Collingwood held the other end and clobbered two sixes and a four off White to take Delhi to 111 for four in 12 overs.

New batsman Kedar Jadhav (7) was the next to go two overs later, when he was found short of the crease by wicketkeeper Uthappa.

Collingwood, on the other side, kept clobbering the Bangalore bowlers and sent Kumble out of the park in the 17th over to complete his half-century.

Vettori, playing his first match this year, scored 19 off 17 balls to the end of the innings.

Source: NDTV Cricket

David Warner exploded at the top and Kedar Jadhav provided a fiery finish to charge Delhi to a strong 183 which they defended with relative ease. It was Delhi’s first win after three losses and also marked Bangalore’s first loss at home.

The pitch was definitely drier than the previous tracks at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and you felt that Bangalore had to do much of the damage against the new ball if they were to hunt down the strong total. However, Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey were kept relatively quiet by tight spells from Dirk Nannes and Umesh Yadav. Nannes hit the deck hard and moved the ball enough to upset batsmen’s timing and Yadav, the fastest Indian bowler currently going around in the circuit, with speeds consistently ticking over 140 kmph, surprised the batsmen with his line, length and bounce. And it wasn’t all brawn from the youngster; there was some brain too: He kept it relatively full to Kallis but hurled a few short-stuff at Pandey to keep him on a leash.

Bangalore’s second opportunity to break free came in the eight over with the introduction of Andrew McDonald and Amit Mishra. It was the make or break moment, with Bangalore needing 129 from 13 overs but Mishra slipped in fine spell to turn the game decisively in Delhi’s favour.

He removed Kallis with a googly and induced Robin Uthappa to edge the reverse sweep to inflict a double strike, a blow from which Bangalore couldn’t’ recover. McDonald went for 18 runs in his first seven deliveries – Uthappa producing the shot of the day with a nonchalantly-hit six over the straight boundary – but bounced back in his second over by taking out Pandey and when Rahul Dravid ran himself out in the same over, the chase had derailed.

There was just one further moment of thrilling drama in the contest and it was provided by AB de Villiers, who jumped back at long-on to take an amazing one-handed catch, even as the ball appeared to have passed him, to get rid of Praveen Kumar.

The bowlers did produce a disciplined performance but it was the batsmen who set up the game. There were three phases of play in Delhi’s innings – an explosive start by Warner, a serene partnership in the middle-overs between AB de Villiers and Dinesh Karthik, and a fiery finish provided by Jadhav.

It was Jadhav who gave Delhi the perfect finish, but for the majority of the innings they rode on the momentum provided by Warner. It was as though he was playing stick cricket – See the ball and give it a mighty thump. The shot that stood out was a crunchy pulled-six off Dale Steyn but what caught his impish mindset was actually a mishit against the same bowler. It was just about back of length outside off and Warner went for an ambitious pull, but the ball screamed towards the cover boundary. It was Twenty20 cricket at its best (or worst, depending on your point of view) and both the bowler and the batsman smiled. There were no smiles from any bowler for the rest of the time when Warner flat-batted length deliveries over in-field and launched mighty sixes over long-on, but the entertainment ended when he fell, unable to clear long-off with yet another of his lofted hits.

When he departed in the fourth over, the score read 44 for 1 and it soon turned to 58 for 2 with Sehwag falling to Vinay Kumar, who is gaining a reputation for taking big wickets. The game changed in character from there on. de Villiers and Dinesh Karthik preferred to deal in singles as they nudged and drove their way around. The period wasn’t without its shares of thrills, with de Villiers pulling and Karthik sweeping Kumble for boundaries but it was definitely a lot quieter than at the start.

It threatened to get grimmer for Delhi when Karthik and de Villiers got run out – Karthik backed up too far at the non-striker’s end and de Villiers was caught short by a direct hit from Eoin Morgan at backward point – but Jadav, an unknown commodity for many of the Bangalore bowlers, connected with a few big hits to push Delhi towards a strong total. The shot of his stay was a audacious flat-batted six over long-on to a short delivery from Jacques Kallis, and he moved around the crease and also threw in a few deft shots – a late cut against Kumble being the highlight. The bowlers, caught off-guard, didn’t know whether to bounce at him or bowl full, and Jadhav exploited that to the fullest to push Delhi to a very competitive total.

Sriram Veera is a staff writer at Cricinfo

Andrew Symonds purple patch continued as he came up with yet another all-round display to steer defending champions Deccan Chargers to a 10-run win over Delhi Daredevils in a thrilling Indian Premier League match on Sunday.

Symonds first scored a brisk 24-ball 35 and then starred with the ball with figures of three for 21, apart from a coming up with a stunning catch to dismiss dangerman Dinesh Karthik, to guide the Chargers home in the match that saw fortunes fluctuating from one team to the other.

With this win, the Deccan chargers has recorded its third consecutive victory in the Twenty20 event after losing the tournament opener against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Daredevils, on the other hand, have slumped to their third defeat on the trot from as many as five outings.

For Daredevils, explosive David Warner made a quickfire 57 off 33 balls upfront, while skipper Karthik seemed determined to see his side home with a dangerous-looking 27-ball 46-run innings.

Apart from Symonds, Rohit Sharma too produced an all-round show for the Chargers with vital 45 runs off 30 balls and then captured two crucial wickets for 42 to help his side’s cause.

Earlier, Chargers’ skipper Adam Gilchrist (24 off 14), Herschelle Gibbs (31 off 26) and T Suman (29 off 19) also chipped with useful contributions to help Chargers post the competitive 171 for six on the board.

Chasing 172 for victory, Daredevils lost the plot towards the end and could only manage 161 for nine wickets after they were provided with a solid foundation by Warner and AB de Villiers (27 off 26) with a 51-run first wicket stand.

The Delhi, however, did not have an ideal start to their innings as they lost dashing opener Virender Sehwag (3) early, caught Gibbs off left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha.

But Warner looked in a ferocious mood as he murdered the Hyderabad bowlers for four boundaries and as many sixes during his 33-ball essay before he fell prey to a suicidal run out.

De Villiers too followed suit soon clean bowled by Rahul Sharma to see Daredevils in a spot of bother.

But Karthik was in no mood to give up without a fight and he took the Deccan Charger bowlers to task, hitting four fours and two sixes during his quickfire innings.

Kathik struck Rahul Sharma for two fours and a six to pick up 17 runs of the 18th over and change the course of the match in Delhi’s favour.

However, it was not to be Delhi day as needing 20 off the last two overs Symonds came up with a brilliant reflex catch of his own bowling to dismiss Karthik.

As if that blow was not enough, Amit Mishra edged one to Gilchrist behind the stumps in Symonds’ next delivery to shatter Delhi’s hopes.

Vaas then cleaned up Yogesh Nagar’s stumps in the first ball of the last over with Delhi needing 14 runs for victory.

Earlier, Rohit Sharma and T Suman (29) shared a vital 60-run fifth-wicket stand to give the Chargers bowlers a competitive score to defend after they were in a spot of bother at one stage, losing four top-order batsmen with 103 runs on board.

For Daredevils, Moises Henriques, Dirk Nannes, Mishra, Nagar and Sarabjit Ladda picked up a wicket each.

Daredevils captain Karthik opened the attack with leggie Mishra and electing to bat, it was not an ideal start as the Chargers’ lost opener Mohnish Mishra (1) in the first over itself.

Source: Times of India

Matthew Hayden butchered Delhi Daredevils bowlers with a breathtaking 43-ball 93 to power Chennai Super Kings to a thrilling five-wicket win in their Indian Premier League match on Friday.

Chennai were chasing a competitive 186 to win but Hayden toyed with the Delhi attack and raised a crucial 78-run third wicket partnership with stand-in skipper Suresh Raina, who scored a sensible unbeaten 49.

Raina hit Tillakaratne Dilshan for a six in the first ball of the last over to notch up the win.

Hayden scored boundaries at will as his innings contained nine fours and seven sixes while Raina’s knock came off 34 balls with the help of three fours and as many sixes.

Earlier, it was Virender Sehwag’s blazing 38-ball 74 at the top and Mithun Manhas’s unbeaten 32 down the order that helped Delhi reach 185 for six, after electing to bat at Ferozeshah Kotla ground.

Rajat Bhatia (21) also played a good hand for Delhi after his side suffered a mini middle-order collapse following a good start.

For Chennai, Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan (2\25) and paceman L Balaji (2/21) took two wickets apiece.

Amit Mishra deprived Hayden of a well deserved century having him caught in the deep by Tillakaratne Dilshan. When the Australian started his walk to pavilion his side needed 44 runs from 39 balls to win.

Albie Morkel (0) departed early and Justin Kemp (4) too returned soon to raise the heartbeats of his teammates but Raina and Murali Vijay (14) ensured that the Delhi side do not end on the wrong side.

This was Chennai’s second successive win, while Delhi suffered their second defeat in row.

Chasing 186, Chennai’s start was far from ideal as diminutive Parthiv, who came in for injured skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, was run out when with 21 runs on the board.

But Hayden was soon in full flow and it was Bhatia who first faced the fury, leaking 18 runs in the fifth over. The burly Australian hit him for three fours and a six to start the Chennai’s push for win.

Dilshan was the next to face the music as Hayden, using his long handled Mongoose bat, hit him for three sixes and completed his half-century in style.

Chennai finished at 190 for five.

Earlier, Sehwag began the match with a bang, dispatching South African paceman Albie Morkel for two boundaries in the very first over.

Raina shuffled four different bowlers in the first four overs but there was no stopping Sehwag.

The local hero welcomed Joginder Sharma with two boundaries and then lofted Balaji for a long-on six in the very first ball of his spell.

Sehwag’s knock was bejewelled with 10 fours and three sixes.

It was Muralitharan’s twin scalp in the 12th over that brought Chennai back into the match when Delhi looked set for a huge score.

Delhi raced to 35 inside four overs but Balaji cut short David Warner’s (6) stay in the middle.

With Sehwag in full flow, Chennai bowlers struggled to find line and length as there was only one over till the first strategic break in which the visitors did not concede a boundary.

Sehwag and Dilshan raised a 67-run partnership, off which the Sri Lankan’s contribution was 15.

Muralitharan then got into act and dismissed Dilshan, caught by Raina and two balls later Kemp took a stunner at straight boundary to bring curtains on Sehwag’s entertaining innings.

Ashwin then sent packing AB de Villiers (2) in the next over.

But Manhas’s 32 not out and Bhatia’s 21 off nine balls helped Delhi reach 185 for six, but the total later proved insufficient.

Source: NDTV

Fifties by Sachin Tendulkar and Saurabh Tiwary set up a 98-run win for Mumbai Indians against Delhi Daredevils at the Ferozshah Kotla on Wednesday.

Delhi Daredevils all out for 120 (Gambhir did not bat after being injured): Mumbai Indians win by 98 runs

First breakthrough for Mumbai. Lasith Malinga deceived his Sri Lankan team-mate Tillakaratne Dilshan with a slower one, uprooting the Delhi opener’s off-stump.

Dwayne Bravo picked up Virender Sehwag and AB de Villiers in the same over to put Delhi Daredevils under immense pressure, chasing 219 against Mumbai Indians.

Sehwag had begun to look dangerous in the course of his 16-ball 26 and holed out to Rayudu at long-off. deVilliers chopped in on to his stumps three balls later to leave a packed Kotla in stunned silence.

Dinesh Karthik stepped down the wicket to Harbhajan Singh, who pushed it down the leg-side and a brilliant Aditya Tare did the rest.

Jayasuriya picked up Mithun Manhas off his first delivery of the match to put Mumbai Indians in a commanding position against Delhi.

Sanath Jayasuriya snapped up his second wicket when he had Farveez Maharoof stumped by Tare. The Delhi Daredevils all-rounder had started to turn on the screws.

Delhi Daredevils lost their eighth wicket when Pradeep Sangwan departed with the score on 116 in the 14th over, failing to beat a dircect throw from Bravo.

Kieron Pollard picked up his first wicket for Mumbai Indians to send back Amit Mishra to the Delhi Daredevils dug-out.

Mumbai Indians are 218 for seven

Skipper Sachin Tendulkar and Saurabh Tiwary smashed rapid fifties to help Mumbai Indians set up a daunting total against Delhi Daredevils at the Ferozshah Kotla.

That’s a sensational catch by substitute fielder Nagar. Sanath Jayasuriya has departed and his Sri Lankan colleague Ferveez Mahroof gets him.

Pradeep Sangwan struck for Delhi Daredevils and Aditya Tare’s stumps are all over the place. However, Mumbai Indians are still ticking along fine.

Tendulkar blasted his way to a quickfire fifty as Mumbai Indians continued to hit Delhi Daredevils hard despite losing two wickets.

Sachin Tendulkar smashed 63 off 32 balls to leave Delhi in a maze before substitute Yogesh Nagar held on to another smart catch to help Delhi Daredevils pick up their third wicket.

That’s the end of Ambatti Rayudu. Tillekaratne Dilshan pouched it safely to give Farveez Maharoof his second wicket.

Tiwary blazed away to 61 before failing to beat a Dinesh Karthik throw at the striker’s end.

Leg-spinner Sarabjit Ladda snapped up Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard in the last over of the innings.

The Toss

Delhi Daredevils have won the toss and elected to bowl in their IPL tie against Mumbai Indians on Wednesday.

Teams

Delhi Daredevils: G Gambhir (Captain), V Sehwag, TM Dilshan, AB de Villiers, KD Karthik(WK), M Manhas, MF Maharoof, A Mishra, S Ladda, PJ Sangwan, DP Nannes

Mumbai Indians: ST Jayasuriya, SR Tendulkar (Captain), DJ Bravo, KA Pollard, AP Tare (WK), SS Tiwary, AT Rayudu, R Sathish, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, SL Malinga