Indian Premier League and Cricket News by IPL Cricket Forum

Even a magnificent unbeaten knock of 117 by Andrew Symonds with 11 boundaries and seven over-boundaries could not save Deccan chargers from Shane Warne and his boys who covered the score with just one ball to spare.

Earlier Deccan finished with a decent score of 214 for 5 and even cornered Rajasthan Royals with brilliant bowling by Sahid Afridi who summed up three wickets for just 27 runs. Grame Smith (71) and Yusuf Pathan (61) batted well to build up the score but the targets seemed a bit far until in the end Shane himself took the charge and scored an impossible 22 of just 9 balls with two fours and two spectacular sixes off Symonds in the last over - playing under such tremendous pressure to keep the match.

All we can say that this format of cricket will remain totally unpredictable and one can expect the game to turn any moment and swing from one side to the other. Rajasthan Royals won by 3 wickets with a final sixer by Shane on the fifth ball of the last over. Yusuf Pathan was awarded the Man of the Match for his score of 61 in just 28 balls with six sixes and four fours.

Score:

Deccan Chargers - 214/5 in 20 overs
Rajasthan Royals - 217/7 in 19.5 overs

Rajasthan Royals won by 3 Wickets.
Man of the Match - Yusuf Pathan

© IPL Cricket Forum

Deccan Chargers did not have a very good start losing early crucial wickets to great bowling by M Asif and one time there was a doubt that if they would even be able to achive a decent total of 100. However things changed a bit with Rohit Sharma firing 4 sixes and six fours in a short time. Deccan finished with a moderate score of 142 for the loss of 8 wickets in 20 overs.

Delhi Daredevils never seemed in presuure with just a single loss of Gautam Gambhir’s wicket in the early phase. Virender Sehwag and Shikhar joined forces and the partnership remained till the very end to see an win. Virender Sehwag hammered 94 with 10 boundaries and six sixes dominating the entire innings right through and reaching the target in just 13 overs. Laxman tried with all his bowlers but no one was spared. Even Andrew Symonds got three sixes and three fours in his last over. Sehwag really made the hard hitters like Dhoni, Yuvraj and others look small in front of this massive straight sixes today.

Delhi daredevils won by 9 wickets with Virender Shewag declared the Man of The Match.

Indian Premier League - IPL has taken the first step to create a partnership with the English Cricket Board that would allow England’s player to compete alongside, and against, stellar names from around the world.

Friday the 18th we will see the inauguration of the 59-game Twenty20 IPL extravaganza, with players such as Andrew Symonds, Mahinder Singh Dhoni, Shane Warne, Sachin Tendulkar and Adam Gilchrist amongst those set to the field on fire.

The ECB have insisted that England’s centrally contracted players will not be allowed to take part in the tournament so as long as it continues to clash with domestic affairs.

Dimitri Masacarenhas looks set to be the only Englishman who will compete this year, but Modi has alternative plans in mind for the future.

“Our players are contracted only to the IPL, but as long as an English Premier League was not played at the same time as ours, then I see no problem with a partnership. I think it is a good idea,” he told The Observer.

The IPL will see eight franchises go head-to-head in a format which could be replicated on domestic shores, with a city-based Twenty20 league running alongside the current county arrangement.

ECB chairman Giles Clarke has been staunch over the availability of England’s players for future IPLs, but could now be softening his stance.

He said: “Graham Gooch says Twenty20 is good preparation for Test matches, Graeme Smith [South Africa captain] says that in Twenty20 every ball matters, and therefore playing it is very good for Test cricketers. We have to take all this into account.”

Like we said before IPL will sure usher in a new era of cricket and even though the rush for tickets is not there as yet - we all know how Indians keep everything for the last minute.

Dimitri Mascarenhas the England all-rounder can’t wait to face more Aussies when the inaugural edition of the Twenty20 competition starts on April 18.

Mascarenhas, the only England player so far involved in the IPL, plays his county cricket for Hampshire where Shane Warne was the captain until quitting the side ahead of the start of the upcoming English season.

It was thanks to the legendary leg-spinner that Mascarenhas, born in London to Sri Lankan parents but brought up in Perth, Western Australia, before returning to England, found himself involved in the IPL.

“It’s an exciting time for me,” Mascarenhas, who has played 10 one-day internationals and nine Twenty20 matches, including one against Australia, told reporters at Lord’s here Monday.

“I’m very much looking forward to it,” said the 30-year-old, yet to play Test cricket. It came really late for me.

“Shane is the captain and coach of the Jaipur franchise and he asked me real late on, after the first auction, “we haven’t signed that many players we’d like to have you, would you be interested?’

“I said “of course it’s a great opportunity’.”

He added: I’ve played against Australia before (he was run out for four and conceded 22 runs in two wicketless overs during England’s eight-wicket defeat in the World Twenty20 in Cape Town back in September).

“But I haven’t faced Brett Lee, added Mascarenhas, a medium-pacer and hard-hitting batsman, who looked forward to going up against the fast bowler.

“I’ve bowled at Andrew Symonds a little bit in county cricket and Twenty20 and he hits them hard.

“It will be pretty fun to bowl at him and Adam Gilchrist - I think they are both in the same team and so is (South Africa batsman) Herschelle Gibbs so that will be interesting.”

Mascarenhas, appointed Hampshire captain when Warne stunned the county last month by quitting the south coast club with a season left on his contract, insisted his IPL role would not harm his England hopes.

“I’m not missing any one-day internationals for England. From speaking to Geoff Miller (England’s senior selector) and Peter Moores (the England coach) they are all pretty positive about it.

“At this stage they don’t see too much of a problem. I can’t see why other players won’t do it in the future.

“My contract states that if dates clash I play for England. I’ve done pretty well but I’m still in and out of the side. I want to play every game.

“At this stage my next target is New Zealand over here,” said Mascarenhas, who averages over 31 with the bat in one-day internationals and an expensive 51 with the ball.

Mascarenhas has signed a three-year contract with Jaipur’s Rajasthan Royals. Initially, he is set to play for his new side for two weeks this year before returning to Hampshire although he could go back if Jaipur get through the first round.

“Because I got in so late, I literally don’t know anything about it. I don’t know where I am going to be,” the 30-year-old Mascarenhas said. “I’m there for two weeks and if we make the finals there’s scope for me to go a bit longer.”

Nic Pothas could captain Hampshire in Mascarenhas’s absence although it is still uncertain if the wicket-keeper will be able to play county cricket this season on account of his participation in the rebel Indian Cricket League.

But Mascarenhas did not foresee any problems.

“Nic went off to the ICL but Hampshire realise how important he is and I’m sure they are going to support him.”

England play New Zealand in a Twenty20 match at Old Trafford on June 13 with the first of five one-dayers between the sides at the Riverside two days later.

Its good to know that the competetion is hotting up with international stars waiting for a piece of action in the forthcoming DLF IPL league