Indian Premier League and Cricket News by IPL Cricket Forum

Partho Mitra: Mumbai

Seasonal Nor-wester Storms disrupted DLF IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings and once again Duckworth Lewis method was used which awarded the win to Chennai on the basis of run rate.

Knight Riders started off badly with the loss of Salmun Butt, Hafeez, Ganguly and Hussey - the major bats but managed a moderate score of 145 for the loss of 5 wickets.

Chennai opened with a firm stand between Parthiv Patel and Stephen Fleming who played steadily given the low target.

Chennai managed to maintain there league position while Knight Riders slipped into further uncertainty. Ntini bagged the MOM award for his superb spell of 4 for 21 with a hat-trick in which he bagged Hafeez, Ganguly, Das and David Hussey - all important wickets.

In the other match Mumbai Indians continued their dream run with a straight win against Deccan Chargers who once gain failed to make it in their home ground. However, R P Singh got the purple cap while Dwayne Bravo who leaves shortly bagged the man of the match award with 3/24.

Sahid Afridi once again failed to make any mark with his bat while it was not a lucky day for Gilchrist and Sachin and the crowd missed fireworks badly except for a momentary blasting by Sanath Jayasuriya.

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Tags: afridi, cap, Chennai Superkings, david hussey, Deccan chargers, Duckworth, Dwayne Bravo, gilchrist, IPL - Kolkata Knight Riders, ipl match report, Lewis, Mumbai Indians, Ntini, Parthiv, purple, Sachin

Editorial : Mohit Goyal 

Indian Premier League Match Preview

Rajasthan Royals Vs Deccan Chargers at Jaipur

Rajasthan’s wagon which was on a roll, was halted in the last match by Mumbai. While the pre tournament favourites, Chargers who had been pretty disappointing registered a thumping win over Chennai in their last match.

Men at the Helm

Shane Warne’s leadership has been the story of the league thus far. Laxman’s absence due to injury in the last match might have been a jolt to Chargers’ batting but Adam Gilchrist coming in as stand in captain was certainly a blessing in disguise.

We have the bat

On paper Chargers are a far superior batting unit but big names like Gibbs, Afridi and Styris haven’t really fired till now. But when they do, not many teams would like to take on them. On the other hand, not so starry batsmen of Royals like Watson, Pathan, Asnodkar and Jadeja have been executing the roles given to them by their captain to perfection.

We have the ball

Rajasthan look a better bowling unit then Deccan with Tanvir, Munaf and Trivedi showing good control, Watson bowling quite quick and Warne turning the ball big. Chargers’ bowlers too bowled pretty good lines in their last match against Chennai Super Kings. Pragyan Ojha and RP Singh seemed to find their rhythms.

Patrolling Party

Both the teams are very good fielding units. If Deccan have Gibbs, Afridi and Styris, Royals have Kaif, Watson and Pathan.

High on betting meter

Such is the talent in the Deccan team that even with them winning just two of the seven matches and Rajasthan loosing only 2 of their seven, Deccan are high on most betting meters. Deccan are placed at 4 on 6 while Rajasthan on 11 on 10.

Who gets the tick?

Deccan have the momentum with them and the star power too while Rajasthan have shown better adaptability and flexibility. Gilly v Warne and Pathan v RP Singh would be battles worth watching for.

© IPL Cricket Forum

Tags: afridi, Deccan chargers, gibbs, IPL Match Preview, Kaif, pathan, Rajasthan Royals, Shane Warne, Styris, VVS laxman, Watson

Pakistan’s flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi is in a hurry to join the Deccan Chargers and will leave for India shortly after the Twenty20 against Bangladesh Sunday.

Afridi confirmed he would be leaving in time to play his team’s second game against Delhi DareDevils on April 22.

“I will miss tomorrow’s (Sunday’s) match against Kolkata Knight Riders due to my commitments with Pakistan but I am keen to play in the second match,” Afridi said.

The rest of the Pakistan players signed up to play in the IPL will leave by Thursday as they want to spend a few days with their families before going to India.

Mohammad Hafeez, who is not in the Pakistan team, played for the Calcutta team in the inaugural IPL match Friday.

Tags: afridi, Deccan chargers, Delhi Daredevils, indian premier league, IPL