The IPL and its commissioner, Lalit Modi, have come under heavy criticism from the Gauteng Cricket Board (GCB), which manages the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, over issues surrounding the hosting of matches at the ground during the second season of the Twenty20 league in South Africa early this year.

In a strongly-worded internal document (dated June 16) that has been circulated among members of the Gauteng board, Ray Wentzel, the GCB treasurer, has accused the IPL of violating various norms, especially for the semi-finals and final on May 24, including attempts to forcibly take over all stadium operations, such as ticketing and parking systems.

The issue has ramifications beyond the IPL and beyond sundry matters such as parking spaces and ticket prices; at stake is the future of the Wanderers, one of cricket’s most famous and historic grounds. The CSA board’s members’ forum has refused to allot any international matches to the Wanderers until the GCB apologises for its allegations and submits its match hosting conditions and, as a result, Wanderers has been stripped of a Test, an ODI and a Twenty20 game it was due to host during England’s tour later this year. This ban will not affect the Champions Trophy in September as it is an ICC event involving separate agreements but the tournament schedule released on Monday has only three matches at the Wanderers – which won’t host the final either.

Barry Skjoldhammer, the GCB chairman, said the document is “only a draft” and not the final report and hence cannot be treated as an “accepted official document”. However, he said it had been circulated among members of the GCB. “We have certain reservations about the conduct of the IPL,” Skjoldhammer told Cricinfo. “But these are not so much against IPL as with Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the way in which they left us to deal with IPL on our own. We are in discussions and I am confident that the issue will be resolved.”

When contacted, Modi dismissed the GCB’s allegations as “completely baseless” and referred to the “clean stadium agreement” that the IPL had signed, which gives the league complete control of the venue, including ticketing and parking. “The IPL has enjoyed close and wonderful cooperation with CSA and officials in the seven other provinces in the country where our matches were staged,” he told Cricinfo.

Gerald Majola, the CSA chief executive, said the South African cricket board has dismissed Gauteng’s allegations against the IPL and are awaiting an apology from the GCB in this regard.

The Gauteng document, which runs to 35 pages including annexures, points to a series of disagreements between the GCB and IPL on a number of issues, ranging from parking spaces, pouring (alcohol) rights, hospitality requirements and ticket prices. “We have been exposed to multiple threats and accusations of dishonesty and lying,” it says. “The IPL’s total disregard of ethics, manners and responsible negotiations protocols reflects an arrogant disregard of their status as guests in South Africa and guests of the South African cricket community.”

The document claims that “the most serious of all issues” was “Modi’s attempts to take control of the entire Stadium operation for the Semi-Final and Final, regardless of the cost or disruption”. It thanks the Gauteng provincial government and Johannesburg City Council for “assisting in what was a potentially catastrophic situation around the parking allocations, which had the potential to spill over into major tragedy along the lines of the Ellis Park disaster… if we had not been able to deal with this threat, GCB would have had no option but to have refused to allow the Semi Final to take place.”

The document suggests, for instance, that the tussle for parking space between Gauteng and the IPL was yet to be resolved with just hours to go for the semi-final between Bangalore Royal Challengers and Chennai Super Kings at the Wanderers on May 23.

The GCB’s biggest complaint against the IPL appears to be the manner in which it claims it has been misled on the requirement of parking during the semi-final and final. The internal document reproduces detailed email exchanges between Sundar Raman, the IPL CEO, and GCB in this regard and concludes: “When their demands for a re-allocation of the parking to which they had previously agreed in writing were rejected, the IPL initially put forward patently false claims that their demands were necessary for security reasons arising from the visit to the Final of President (Jacob) Zuma.

“When these claims were refuted by GCB on the strength of information given to us by the Presidential Security Unit and by the responsible arm of the SAP, the IPL simply persisted in its demands and threatened to disrupt the operational security and efficiency of the semi-final and the final unless its demands were met.”

The document ends with what appears to be a direct, personal attack against Modi. “With specific regard to any future dealings with the IPL and Commissioner Modi, in whatever capacity, the Board should be mindful of his unacceptable personal behaviour in a variety of different ways.”

The GCB document also accuses Majola of adopting “a consistently sycophantic attitude towards the IPL’s demands and his total disregard of the rights of the provinces and their supporters”. “We have also been dismayed by the politicizing of the IPL and GCB disagreements by the President of CSA Dr Mtutuzeli Nyoka,” the document states.

Majola said the CSA’s members forum, comprising all CSA affiliates, dismissed the criticisms by GCB against the management of the 2009 IPL by CSA, the IPL and the BCCI. “They [GCB] were instructed to apologise to all these parties and as yet no apology has been forthcoming,” he told Cricinfo. “GCB has called for a dispute with CSA to be declared, and this has pushed the matter into the legal arena and will be dealt with by CSA’s management committee.”

Wentzel, the GCB treasurer, says in the document that the purpose “of this report is to give Board members an overview of our dealings with the IPL and CSA over the period leading up to and during the hosting of the IPL tournament in South Africa. Many issues have arisen in regard to which the Board will need to make policy and operational decisions for future events of this nature where cricket is played at our Stadium outside the control of existing national and international structures.”

Ajay Shankar is a deputy editor at Cricinfo

The IPL final could have gone either way but Andrew Symonds’ back-to-back strikes tilted the balance in favour of Deccan Chargers, according to captain Adam Gilchrist and his Bangalore counterpart Anil Kumble.

Chasing a modest 144, Bangalore looked on course for victory until Symonds struck twice in the 15th over, removing both Ross Taylor and Virat Kohli with the second and third deliveries respectively. Gilchrist believed the match was evenly poised until then and congratulated Bangalore on making it a great contest. “I think for us, Pragyan Ojha did really well claiming three crucial wickets but those two wickets in two balls, that really hurts especially when a team is chasing,” Gilchrist said.

Kumble agreed that over was the turning point. “On this track, chasing 144 was not a big task and we needed seven runs an over. But losing Taylor and Kohli in two balls hurt,” Kumble said. “Earlier, we lost Rahul [Dravid] and that put the brakes on. We didn’t have partnerships and still were one hit away from a win.”

They were also plenty of positives for both captains to dwell on. Gilchrist, who was adjudged the Player of the Tournament, was delighted with the performance of the youngsters in the team and he singled out Harmeet Singh, who took two wickets and a stunning catch, for special praise.

“We have a number of youngsters in the side and all of them are eager to learn and grow,” Gilchrist said. “It was amazing to see Harmeet tonight, the way he bowled and then took that amazing catch.”

Kumble credited his team-mates for the incredible turnaround in the tournament, having finished second from bottom last season. “Two weeks ago, after the match against Mumbai, we said it was tough to win five in a row and reach the final. I credit my teammates for doing just that and coming so far,” Kumble said. “Of course it was so near and yet so far but it was a good game of cricket today.”

He also pointed out that it was a deliberate ploy to open the bowling, since he wanted to get rid of the hard-hitting Gilchrist at the earliest. “If you let someone like Gilchrist get away, he would run away with the match. It was for me to put up my hand and bowl. Fortunately it worked well,” Kumble said.

Life came a full circle for Gilchrist and his team following a spectacular reversal of fortunes from the previous season, when they finished at the bottom of the table. Gilchrist felt the lack of pressure had a positive effect on his side.

“I really encouraged our team to try to play everything down and fly under the radar if you like, because we were happy with that, without having any expectations on us,” Gilchrist said. “This is only the cricket I play now, so given what we went through last year, this is just a really tremendous effort from the whole franchise to turn it around. It’s just been a great experience.

“The first thing I said at the start of our first meeting was, ‘Guys, we’re all in it together’. That was my first line of our first team meeting and yeah, we’re all going to enjoy this together.”

He was also full of praise for the way Bangalore scripted a very similar revival against the odds. “I’m thrilled for him (Kumble) and their franchise, the way they turned it around,” Gilchrist said. “They experienced a lot of the pain and disappointment that we went through last year.”

Deccan Chargers 143 for 6 (Gibbs 53*, Kumble 4-16) beat Bangalore Royal Challengers 137 for 9 (Ojha 3-28, Symonds 2-18) by six runs…

Deccan Chargers took the bull in their emblem too seriously, as they came out charging to defend a modest total. They bowled with fire, they fielded aggressively, they sledged with vengeance, and literally, almost by physical force, hustled Bangalore Royal Challengers out in a thrilling final that lived up to the occasion.

The last of several turning points in the match was the 15th over of Bangalore’s innings, bowled by Andrew Symonds who matched his verbal skills earlier in the night with the wickets of Ross Taylor and Virat Kohli off back-to-back deliveries. Bangalore were 99 for 6 when the over started.

Bangalore needed 27 from the last two overs, and 14 from the last, but RP Singh and Ryan Harris kept their cool despite a six from Robin Uthappa.

Anil Kumble celebrated like a teenager but bowled like the veteran champion he is, and kept Deccan Chargers to a below-par total in the IPL final, at the Wanderers. Even after the 52-run partnership in the middle overs between Rohit Sharma and Herschelle Gibbs, Deccan managed three less than what Bangalore Royal Challengers chased easily on a similar pitch at the same venue in the semi-final.

After Kumble provided Adam Gilchrist’s wicket in the first over, he pulled Deccan back every time they threatened to get away from them. Much like how he got his other bowlers to do the same last night. The man most thankful for Kumble’s second breakthrough was Rahul Dravid, who had dropped Andrew Symonds when on 5. Symonds then went on to remind Bangalore eerily of the line his batting partner Gibbs was apocryphally told during the 1999 World Cup.

Had Dravid caught Symonds then, Deccan would have been 23 for 3 in the sixth over. R Vinay Kumar would have taken his second wicket in his second over, and to think he wouldn’t even have played had B Akhil not got injured before the semi-final. In that same over Symonds crashed him over cover for four, and backed away and hit Jacques Kallis for back-to-back boundaries in the next over. Roelof van der Merwe was hit for a massive six next over. And Kumble had to turn to the man most likely to get a wicket on the night – himself.

Sure enough, in the ninth over, he bowled Symonds off the thigh pad. And off he went rushing towards Vinay at fine leg, and a relieved Dravid soon joined in the celebrations. If Kumble was animated now, just rewind to the first over. He chose to bowl it himself, to the man most likely to make this a one-sided final. To the third ball Gilchrist stepped out, and saw – didn’t see rather – a full ball squeeze under his bat and take the leg stump out. Off went Kumble, pumping fists and pointing to the dugout. All age barriers were broken then. And Kumble was not done yet.

Between the dismissals of Glichrist and Symonds, Gibbs had stayed inconspicuous in his struggle to get quick runs. After 13 overs Gibbs had reached just 18 off 29 deliveries. Either side of Symonds’ wicket, Bangalore stitched together a boundary-less spell of 26 balls. Then Rohit and Gibbs threatened to open up in the overs No. 14 and 15. Especially in the 15th, most expensive over of the innings with 20 runs coming off it, both the batsmen hit Praveen Kumar for a six each.

Suddenly Deccan had reached 109 for 3 after 16 overs, capable of anything in the last four. Kumble brought himself back, and inevitably he got Rohit with the second ball he bowled. For good measure he got Venugopal Rao with the last ball of his spell, ending with 4 for 16.

Towards the end Gibbs played a bizarre little innings. With two more sixes, he got to his fifty, and repaired his strike-rate, but faced only six balls in the last three overs. What was especially baffling was that he got 12 runs off those six balls, and yet kept taking twos to every ball in the last over, handing over the strike to Ryan Harris. Vinay for the second time in two nights bowled a superb last over, for just nine runs and a wicket this time. In those three overs Deccan added only 28.

Sidharth Monga is a staff writer at Cricinfo

A brilliant four wicket haul by Bangalore captain Anil Kumble restricted Hyderabad to a modest 143 for six from their 20 overs in the final of the Indian Premier League…

A double blow by Anil Kumble in his final over helped Bangalore send Rohit Sharma and Venugopal Rao back to the hut.

Sharma tried to turn things around for Hyderabad, playing some aggressive shots to put Bangalore under pressure.Rao tried to clear the Bangalore captain over the ropes but ended up being caught in the deep.

Herschelle Gibbs batted right through the innings but never seemed to get going.

Kumble rattled Gilchrist’s stumps to pack off the Hyderabad skipper for a duck.

Minutes after losing Gilchrist to Kumble, Hyderabad batsman TS Suman mistimed one to be caught by Manish Pandey off R Vinay Kumar.

Kumble brought himself back on to get rid of the dangerous Andrew Symonds.

Kumar got his second wicket when he had Azhar Bilakhi trapped in front of the wickets off the first delivery of the last over.

The Toss

Bangalore have won the toss and decided to field first in the final of the Indian Premier League against Hyderabad.

Teams

Bangalore Royal Challengers: MK Pandey, JH Kallis, RE van der Merwe, R Dravid, LRPL Taylor, RV Uthappa, V Kohli, MV Boucher, P Kumar, R Vinay Kumar, A Kumble

Deccan Chargers: AC Gilchrist, HH Gibbs, TS Suman, RG Sharma, A Symonds, Y Venugopal Rao, AA Bilakhia, RJ Harris, PP Ojha, Harmeet Singh, RP Singh

Bangalore Royal Challengers 149 for 4 (Pandey 48, Dravid 44) beat Chennai Super Kings 146 for 5 v (Parthiv 36, 2-38) by six wickets…

Last things first. Royal Challengers and Deccan Chargers, placed at the bottom last year, will face each other for the IPL tomorrow. And lightning does strike twice. Ask Chennai Super Kings. They had shot under by setting Bangalore 147, but would have thought of it as a fighting total. Manish Pandey, who came out of nowhere and scored a century in the last game, didn’t think so. His 35-ball 48 almost killed the chase, and a minor hiccup later Bangalore were in the final.

If anything this was an even better innings, both in terms of the quality of strokeplay and in terms of this being a far bigger match. He got away with a square-drive in the first over, following a ball both wide and full. As if to say it was no fluke, he brought out a more classical square-drive, down on a knee, to the next delivery. Jacques Kallis matched that start with back-to-back square-cuts of equal ferocity and beauty in the second over.

But within seven deliveries Bangalore lost Kallis and Roelof van der Merwe. To pull them out of the shock Pandey produced boundaries with a back-foot punch and a drive on the run in two deliveries in the fourth over. Out of habit the slogs came out in the next two overs, but he cleared the leg-side field with them. By the end of the Powerplays Pandey had reached 29 off 14 deliveries, six fours, four of them along the ground, and Bangalore needed only 88 from 84.

Pandey had batting with him the best man possible – Rahul Dravid, whose classical strokeplay and superb planning, had a calming effect on the 19-year-old at the other end. His straight-drive off Shadab Jakati and the flick off Albie Morkel were shots as good as any played in the night. The key moment was always going to be when Muttiah Muralitharan, held back by MS Dhoni, would come on to bowl.

Murali started off with a big lbw shout against Pandey, and after that Dravid made a conscious effort of keeping the youngster away from the fox. Pandey finally fell when he went to slog-sweep the other spinner, Shadab Jakati, and a turnaround was in the offing. Fifty-three were required in 45 balls then, and Dravid seemed to have it under control until Murali came back and got him lbw in the 16th over. After an asphyxiating over, Bangalore required 35 off four overs.

Chennai needed a gamble then, after all other bowlers had been taken for runs. Suresh Raina bowled the next over, and both Ross Taylor and Virat Kohli took a six off him. The decisive, and the most symbolic, blow came in the next over when Kohli read a doosra, stepped out to Murali, and hit him straight down the ground for a big six. Bangalore’s fifth win in a row was all but sealed then.

The win, though, looked far away when Parthiv Patel stunned them after they had put Chennai in. The whole talk before the semi-final centered around the orange cap holder Mathew Hayden and whether he would be back for the big match. But Bangalore were hit from an unexpected quarter. It’s not often you go outscoring Hayden in good form, and if you do you better be playing exceptionally. That’s precisely what Parthiv did for a brief while.

Parthiv was attacked with short bowling, but he brought out the pulls, the cuts, and the upper-cuts. In the first six overs Chennai raced away to 52, and Hayden hadn’t even warmed up by then. In fact Parthiv had reached 32 off 20 deliveries, while Hayden was still 13. What odds would punters get for that?

But Anil Kumble and Bangalore regrouped fast. Smart bowling changes and smart bowling thereafter kept pulling Chennai back whenever they threatened to move too far out of reach. The result? A late assault never came. It was Kumble, who brought some control to the proceedings, coming in to bowl the sixth over. And then when Hayden went for one six too many off R Vinay Kumar and mis-hit to long-on, Kumble seized the opportunity.

He brought back Kallis, whose first two overs had cost 21. With his fourth delivery Kallis removed Parthiv and Bangalore could try and force restrain upon two new batsmen.

The two new batsmen were MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina, in that order. There was a period of quiet around the time-out, and Kallis went for five in his next two overs. Just when Raina looked like opening up, with a four and a six off Vinay, Kumble brought back Praveen in the 15th over. With the first ball, Praveen got Raina to sky a slower ball, and Bangalore had once again prevented Chennai from getting away.

Again, when Morkel slogged Kumble for a six after 23 balls without, van der Merwe got Dhoni, caught at long-on. Dhoni’s move to come in at No. 3 didn’t work: he didn’t hit any boundaries in his 28-ball 30.

Kumble handed over India’s Test captaincy to Dhoni, but today he had outfoxed his opposite number.

Sidharth Monga is a staff writer at Cricinfo

Chennai Super Kings have managed to post 146 for five in their alloted 20 overs against Bangalore Royal Challengers…

Chennai Super Kings got off to a flying start after Bangalore Royal Challengers won the toss and put them into bat in the second semifinal of the IPL II at Johannesburg on Saturday.

Openers — Matthew Hayden and Parthiv Patel came out firing all guns to give Chennai a fabulous start. The duo simply took off from the word go as they showed little mercy on Bangalore bowlers.

When Vinay Kumar managed to get the important breakthrough for the Royal Challengers by seeing off Hayden, Chennai had already scored 61 in seven overs.

Hayden departed for a well-made 19-ball 26. Thereafter, Patel also took little time to join his partner in thedressing room, getting out for 36 off 25 balls.

Captain MS Dhoni (28) and Suresh Raina (20) also chipped in and got the momentum going even though they failed to maintain the same run-rate.

Earlier, Bangalore made just one change in the team, bringing in Vinay Kumar in place of injured Akhil.
On the other hand, Chennai announced two changes — Jakati comes in for Ashwin while Hayden returns in place of George Bailey.

Bangalore look to stretch their dream run when they clash with Chennai in the second IPL semifinal in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Both the teams have taken contrasting routes to reach the last-four stage as Chennai Super Kings dominated in the first-half of the league stage before suffering some close defeats while Royal Challengers Bangalore gradually picked up after the change of guard in their team.

Bangalore was one of the two bottom placed teams in the first edition and have done a remarkable job this season.

Teams:

Chennai Super Kings: Matthew Hayden, Parthiv Patel, Suresh Raina, S Badrinath, MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Jacob Oram, Albie Morkel, Shadab Jakati, L Balaji, Muttiah Muralitharan, Manpreet Gony.

Bangalore Royal Challengers: Manish Pandey, Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid, Robin Uthappa, Ross Taylor, Virat Kohli, Mark Boucher (wk), Roelof van der Merwe, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Anil Kumble (capt).

Deccan Chargers 154 for 4 (Gilchrist 85) beat Delhi Daredevils 153 for 8 (Dilshan 65, Sehwag 39, Harris 3-27) by six wickets…

There’s no rust on this baby. Adam Gilchrist didn’t just blow the Delhi Daredevils out with an overpowering blitzkrieg, but also backed up his vow at the end of a disappointing 2008 to give fans in Hyderabad more to cheer for in 2009. Gilchrist’s has been a pivotal role in taking last season’s wooden spoon holders to the final this year, and tonight, in the cauldron of a semi-final, he treated Centurion to a stunning display of hitting. His assault on Delhi’s bewildered bowlers turned what threatened to be a tricky chase into a no-contest as Deccan chased down 154 with six wickets in hand and 16 balls to spare. Deccan have duly earned the right to be in Johannesburg on Sunday.

Gilchrist had looked like a man with a plan when at the toss he promptly said Deccan would field and try and keep the opposition to an achievable target. With teams not always chasing down total in the vicinity of 160 easily under lights at Centurion, Deccan’s chase wasn’t expected to be an easy one. In five deliveries Gilchrist smashed any such thoughts. Dirk Nannes, one of the success stories of this IPL, was flayed for five consecutive boundaries in the first over, Gilchrist pulling, cutting and driving with power. Nannes was not needed again until the 17th over, when the result was decided.

That assault set a trend that continued though Gilchrist’s innings as he made the semi-final his own. Ashish Nehra bowled Herschelle Gibbs for a duck but Gilchrist was in a hurry, clobbering Pradeep Sangwan’s first three balls for four, four and six. No frills, just excellent bat speed and powerful wrists. In three overs Deccan were 41 for 1, out of which Nehra’s first over cost just three.

Nehra’s second was nowhere as controlled. Gilchrist drove a no-ball for four and drilled the free hit for a straight six to raise Deccan’s fifty in 23 deliveries – his contribution being 48 from 14 balls. His half-century needed just 17 balls, the fastest of the IPL. Virender Sehwag came on for the first and last time in the tournament, with Gilchrist plundering three successive sixes in a 25-run over. It was the Gilchrist of old, the man who put the fear of God in bowlers the world over.

Why Sehwag brought himself on before Amit Mishra and the crafty Rajat Bhatia on a sluggish track will go down as one of the IPL’s blunders, because the legspinner struck almost immediately. Gilchrist fell for a superb 85 from 35 balls one delivery before the strategic break, but the damage had been done. Mishra then cut Andrew Symonds off before he could finish the job. Rohit Sharma walked out with 17 required from 38 balls and closed the deal in T Suman’s company.

Matters had veered to and fro throughout the first half of this match but Deccan having reigned Delhi in to 153 ultimately proved decisive. Tillakaratne Dilshan had played a crucial hand, holding it together after Delhi’s openers fell to Ryan Harris in the first over, and then providing the momentum as well when quick runs were needed. Then Deccan regrouped through Symonds and Harmeet Singh initially and Harris and RP Singh thereafter, only allowing Delhi 70 in the last ten overs.

A scoreline of 0 for 2 had little bearing on Dilshan. He led a charmed life, pulling his first ball just over deep backward square leg’s fingertips for six and edging the second between gully and slip for four. Then Sehwag nearly ran him out next ball when he punched the ball to midwicket and then changed his mind.

While Sehwag got tall to work the ball to the leg side, Dilshan preferred to back away and squeeze it through backward point and third man. He used the uncomplicated strategy of judging the length early and then slapping it either off the back foot or front. When Pragyan Ojha slowed his pace and offered room Dilshan flayed him for boundaries, and when Symonds did the same he was cut away. Gilchrist was given a tough time in setting a field for Dilshan, who was adept at picking runs anywhere in the park. A drop behind the stumps, when Dilshan was 30, didn’t help.

After a maiden first over, Delhi scored 83 in nine. Runs came thick and fast and Gilchrist turned back to Symonds, who finally broke an 85-run alliance with a straighter one that Sehwag needlessly tried to paddle. Symonds and Harmeet choked run and Deccan did well to take four wickets, including two run outs, in the 20th over that only cost eight. Sehwag would have been pleased with 153 after Delhi were 0 for 2 but that was before Gilchrist stepped up. Delhi have now been thrashed in consecutive IPL semi-finals after dominating the league stages.

Gilchrist’s praises have been sung in this tournament – he came into the game leading their run list – and tonight he deserved no less than a chorus.

Jamie Alter is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo

A fabulous half-century by Tillakaratne Dilshan helped Delhi Daredevils post a competitive 153 for eight in their semifinal match.

Ryan Harris gave Deccan Chargers a dream start as he managed to send back both the Delhi Daredevils openers — Gautam Gambhir and David Warner in the very first over after Delhi were put in to bat in the first semifinal of the Indian Premier League second edition in Centurion on Friday.

However, Delhi Daredevils captain Virender Sehwag and Tillakaratne Dilshan steadied the boat and went on doing the repair work to get over the early loss. The duo played their natural game as they went for their shots and managed to take Delhi to a score of 82 in 10 overs.

Just after the strategy break, Delhi Daredevils lose their captain Sehwag, who got out for a well-made 39 off 31 balls.

Dilshan, meanwhile held his ground and kept on playing his characteristic innings by hitting the ball all around the park. In also brought up his half-century in the process.

The new batsman in AB de Villiers gave Dilshan a good support on the other end before departing for 21-ball 26.

Delhi have made just one change to their side, bringing in Ashish Nehra in place of Avishkar Salvi.

Meanwhile, Deccan Chargers have also made one change as Harmeet Singh comes in for Jaskaran Singh.

After a disastrous campaign in the first edition of the Indian Premier League last year, the Hyderabad boys have stormed their way into the last four of the second version.

Led by Adam Gilchrist, a spirited team, without much offing from the legendary VVS Laxman won seven out of their 14 league games.

Virender Sehwag’s boys have been on a roll, butchering their opponents with a disdain characteristic of their leader.

Gautam Gambhir and Sehwag had a torrid time through the tournament before both struck form in their last league game against the Mumbai Indians.

Teams:

Delhi Daredevils: G Gambhir, DA Warner, V Sehwag (capt), TM Dilshan, AB de Villiers, KD Karthik (wk), R Bhatia, A Mishra, DP Nannes, P Sangwan, A Nehra.

Deccan Chargers: AC Gilchrist (capt/wk), HH Gibbs, TS Suman, RG Sharma, A Symonds, Y Venugopal Rao, AA Bilakhia, RJ Harris, PP Ojha, Harmeet Singh, RP Singh.

Bangalore Royal Challengers 170 for 4 (Pandey 114*) beat Deccan Chargers 158 for 6 (Gibbs 60, Akhil 2-18, Kumble 2-23) by 12 runs…

In a campaign that has included matches insipid and inspiring Bangalore Royal Challengers have well and truly come to life. Maintaining the momentum of three consecutive wins, they pulled the rug from under Deccan Chargers’ feet and went to No. 3 in the points table, setting up a semi-final clash with the Chennai Super Kings on Saturday. Deccan will play Delhi Daredevils in Friday’s semi-final.

At the end of a clinical win, Bangalore can thank Manish Pandey and RP Singh. Promoting Pandey to open in a pressure situation, Bangalore nearly lost him in the third over but RP’s gross misjudgment at third man settled the nerves and then some. Either cutting solidly or swatting and slapping with efficiency rather than grace, Pandey grabbed the opportunity and notched up just the second century this season – and the first by an Indian in either season. Few in South Africa would have heard of the Under-19 batsman before today but should remember him after this amazing effort.

Teams have struggled to defend under lights at Centurion, and Bangalore were put on the backfoot as Herschelle Gibbs waded into the attack. But Anil Kumble took pace off the ball and once Gibbs and Andrew Symonds were dismissed in relative succession it all got too tough for Deccan.

RP’s drop in the third over came after Jacques Kallis pulled his seventh ball to short square leg. It proved a costly error. Pandey began his innings looking out of sorts, twice inside-edging Ryan Harris on the bounce to Adam Gilchrist and top-edging safely to third man. Batting as though Bangalore needed to chase 250, Pandey clouted the ball through the leg side with abandon.

Roelof van der Merwe showed a liking for RP on the leg side, twice crashing him over through and over mid-on for boundaries, and weighed in with 23 from 18 balls. After he was well stumped off Symonds in the tenth over, Pandey weighed the situation and hung on. By this time he was 33, and on resumption after the strategic break dumped T Suman’s offspin for consecutive sixes to raise his half-century. Now his timing had improved considerably and Bangalore were going at seven an over.

Very strong through the leg side, Pandey’s main scoring option was the swipe across the line. RP returned to bowl the 14th over and Pandey reminded him of his reprieve, swatting and edging fours. He continued the same way after Pragyan Ojha accounted for Rahul Dravid in the next over, clearing his front leg and slogging against the turn. The caress – Pandey steered Jaskaran for four – was followed by the clubbed – next ball disappeared for six – and the fortuitous – an edge beat Gilchrist for four – as Pandey moved to 97 at the end of the 17th over.

The landmark came up with a single down the ground and there wasn’t much fanfare. Virat Kohli took a cue and pulled six more, followed by a top edge that dropped safely between two clueless fielders, and deposited the last ball over the ropes. That last over summed up the course the two teams had run.

With Gilchrist struggling for timing, Gibbs took over the responsibility of scoring and did so in imitable fashion. He survived a shout against an Kumble topspinner when on 5 but didn’t refrain from walking across his stumps, lapping and pulling the bowlers to distraction. Kallis hobbled off with a troublesome hamstring and Gibbs decided to take on Praveen Kumar. The first two balls were short-arm-flicked for sixes, the third was lapped for four, and Gilchrist put away a low full toss. Gibbs then dismissed van der Merwe for a couple sixes upon introduction. Taking full toll of the half-volleys and stray balls that were on offer, Gibbs blasted 45 of the 68 runs added by the openers, lashing boundaries on both sides of the wicket.

He was dropped on 49 – soon after Gilchrist went for 15 – but didn’t do much damage after Deccan went into the strategic break on a healthy 79 for 1. Symonds walked out in the 11th over after Kumble got Suman, and Rohit Sharma followed him in second ball of the 15th when Gibbs lost his grip and skied one to a tumbling Pandey in the deep. From a strong position Deccan lost a second. With 52 needed in five, Kumble called back van der Werwe and he bowled Symonds first ball. The pressure was on Rohit and Venugopal Rao but neither contributed; Rao was run out in the 18th over and in the next Rohit lofted Kumble to a very calm Kohli at long-on. The 26 needed off the final over was too much.

Bangalore showed an intensity that indicated how keen they were to erase the loss from the last time these two teams met. Pandey has said he would like to join the army, like his father, if he is unable to become a professional cricketer. If he can score hundreds like this going forward he won’t need to reach for that application form.

Jamie Alter is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo

Delhi Daredevils 166 for 6 (Sehwag 50, Harbhajan 4-17) beat Mumbai Indians 165 for 8 (Rahane 56, Nannes 3-27) by four wickets…

Barring Harbhajan Singh’s four-wicket haul late in the chase, the Delhi Daredevils dominated their final league game with their power-hitting top order taking them to a four-wicket win which will give them a much-needed momentum ahead of the semi-final.

Ajinkya Rahane’s second half-century of the season took the Mumbai Indians to 165 against the Delhi Daredevils who opted to field in order to get some practice chasing ahead of the semi-final. Delhi have lost two of their last three games and need to get back the winning momentum, though this won’t be an easy total to overhaul.

Delhi’s fast bowlers used the bounce and movement off the pitch to trouble Mumbai. Dirk Nannes struggled with wides in his opening spell but got lift from the pitch when he bowled just short of a length. He used the width of the crease to angle the ball into Sanath Jayasuriya and had him for a first-ball duck. In his second, after being hit for two fours, Nannes got JP Duminy to edge one that rose. Pradeep Sangwan picked up Mohammad Ashraful, who looked out of depth, edging and missing before he fell for 2 off 10 balls.

Rahane, who was welcomed to the crease with a bouncer by Sangwan, began to attack after the end of the Powerplay and hit two fours in the bowler’s next over. He also survived a touch chance in the same over when Rajat Bhatia failed to hold on to a one-handed catch at square leg. Sachin Tendulkar joined in when spin was introduced in the seventh over, pulling a free hit off Amit Mishra for four. Bhatia, bowling his slow-medium stuff, sent down four tight balls and a wide before Tendulkar messed up the over with two beautifully executed fours. He late-cut the first to the third-man boundary and drove the next straight past the bowler to long-on.

After ten overs Mumbai were 72 for 3. Bhatia gave away only three in his over immediately after the strategy break but Mishra went for 15. Tendulkar lofted one over extra cover for four and got another from a miscued hit to long-off; to rub it in Rahane cut a shorter delivery to the point boundary.

Virender Sehwag brought back Sangwan, who beat Tendulkar with an angled delivery first up. He was unlucky to have Tendulkar inside-edge one past the wicketkeeper for four and concede four byes as Dinesh Karthik let a ball go through his legs. Mumbai crossed 100 in an 11-run 13th over. Tendulkar and Rahane had added 73 at more than eight an over before Bhatia bowled Tendulkar, who missed a slower ball while making room to play to extra cover. Abhishek Nayar fell five balls later to Salvi, missing one that straightened after pitching within the stumps.

But Rahane kept the run-rate ticking over seven, hitting a six – the first of the match – and a four off Mishra, who struggled with his length and went for 13 in his final over, the 17th of the innings. He also square-cut Salvi for a six and got his fifty in 37 balls.

Nannes returned to end the 43-run stand between Rahane and Pinal Shah but Mumbai will be happy to have got past 160 after failing to get 150 in their last three matches. The last five overs got them 56 and could be the deciding factor that takes them to sixth place in the points table and ends their IPL campaign on a winning note.

Nishi Narayanan is a staff writer at Cricinfo