kingsXIpunjab vs kolkata knight riders:Mahela seals Punjab win in last-ball thriller

kolkata knight riders batting

kingsXIpunjab batting

Mahela Jayawardene struck an unbeaten 52 to guide Kings XI Punjab to a nail-biting six-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League here on Sunday.The Sri Lankan batsman hit seven fours in his 41-ball knock as Punjab surpassed Kolkata's competitive 153-3 in a last-ball finish at St. George's Park.Needing seven from the final over by Kolkata paceman Ajit Agarkar, Jayawardene hit a four while Irfan Pathan (19 not out) fetched the winning runs for Punjab.The victory helped Punjab climb to the second position in the points table while the struggling Kolkata continued to languish at the bottom with their sixth defeat from eight matches.The Yuvraj Singh-led Punjab have now won four of their seven matches in this Twenty20 competition.Punjab were off to a disappointing start with Ishant Sharma claiming Kumar Sangakkara for a duck in the first over but a slew of dropped catches and poor fielding did Kolkata no favours.Simon Katich (34) was dropped on five by Chris Gayle while debutant Sunny Sohal also thrived on a grassed chance to make a fine 26-ball 25.Kolkata's innings was built around Brad Hodge who top-scored with an unbeaten 70 off just 43 balls and shared key partnerships with Sourav Ganguly (22) and Morne van Wyk (18 not out).The Australian smashed 10 fours and a six in a late assault that saw Kolkata put on 101 runs in their last 10 overs.Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla was the most successful bowler with 2-27 from four overs.

chennai superkings vs delhi daredevils:Jakati the hero as Delhi lose the plot

chennai superkings batting
delhi daredevils batting

A splendid 4-24 from left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati led Chennai Super Kings to an 18-run win over Delhi Daredevils to keep them alive for a semi-final spot in the IPL on Saturday.The 28-year-old Jakati was the unlikely star of the night as he turned the match on its head in favour of the Chennai side with a fine display of slow bowling at the Wanderers.Chasing a target of 164, Delhi could score only 145 in 20 overs after stand-in skipper Gautam Gambhir inserted Chennai in after winning the toss on a batting pitch which was hosting the first match of the tournament.Jakati claimed Delhi's twin half centurions David Warner (51) and Dinesh Karthik (52), besides the in-form Tillakaratne Dilshan (13) to help the Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side to their third win in seven matches.With the win, Chennai are on joint third with seven points along with Mumbai Indians (six matches) and Rajasthan Royals (seven matches) behind Deccan Chargers and Daredevils, both on eight points.Till the 15th over, Delhi were on course at 120 for three mainly due to Warner and Karthik but they could add just 25 runs in the last five overs while losing three quick wickets.Delhi lost way once they lost Warner got out in the 16th over and Karthik fell in the 18th over.When Karthik was out at 132 for six, the match was all over and the Delhi lower order could not do much to the incisive bowling and good fielding from Chennai.For Delhi, Warner top-scored with a 40-ball 54, his IPL fifty on debut and he was ably supported by Karthik.Needing to score just over eight an over, Delhi started disastrously losing two wickets for 20 in the fourth over with both opener Gambhir and AB de Villiers falling to left-arm seamer Sudeep Tyagi.They were 71 for three by half-way and were well on course at 120 for three after the 15th over before losing their way in the last five overs.Suresh Raina took a blinder by diving full length to his right in the fourth over to pile on the agony of opener Gambhir (13) who continued his poor run of form in the tournament.Next ball, in-form and only centurion this season, AB de Villiers departed for a golden duck as Tyagi bowled him with a ball that jagged back in.All was not lost for Delhi with Warner and Dilshan going great guns. Warner showed why he is considered a dreaded Twenty20 batsman as he hit three fours in three balls off Albie Morkel in the fifth over.In-form Dilshan (13) hit a huge six off Tyagi in the first ball of the sixth over but that did not intimidate Jakati who dismissed the Sri Lankan with a peach of a delivery which turned from leg to knock back the middle stump.At 72 for three at the half-way mark, Delhi were on course at an asking rate of just over nine.Karthik and Warner raised the hundred in the 13th over and the former hit spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan for two fours in the 14th over even picking a doosra.But then, wickets fell in quick succession with Warner (16th), Manhas (17th), Karthik (18th) and Pradeep Sangwan (18th) making a procession to the hut.Ashish Nehra and Amit Mishra needed an impossible 29 runs from the last over and they could score only 10 to fall short by 18 runs.Earlier, left-arm pacers Ashish Nehra and Dirk Nannes took three wickets each as Delhi Daredevils bowled out Chennai Super Kings for 163.Nehra and Nannes returned with identical figures of 3-27 while medium pacer Rajat Bhatia chipped in with 2-17 in his first game this season.The Super Kings scored at a brisk pace initially and were well on course for a much bigger total as they were 134 for four after the 15th over. But, Dhoni's side could add only 29 runs from the last five overs while losing six wickets.Jacob Oram (3), Dhoni (6), Sudeep Tyagi (13), Laxmipathy Balaji (2) and Muttiah Muralitharan (3) did little for the team's cause.Nannes took two wickets - that of Oram and Dhoni - off successive balls in the 18th over to strike body blow to the Chennai's hopes of a competitive total.The Chennai side began on a strong note but lost two quick wickets - of openers Matthew Hayden (30) and Murali Vijay (14) - to be reduced to 53 for in the sixth over.Vijay could not contribute much in his IPL debut and was out in fifth over off Nehra.Hayden followed his partner to the hut in the next over after living dangerously while also hitting some lusty blows. He could not beat de Villiers at long on in the sixth over after scoring a 19-ball 30 which included four fours and one six.Chennai shifted gears after being 77 for three at the half-way mark and added 57 runs in the next five overs though also losing the wicket of Suresh Raina for 32.S Badrinath hit two sixes and two fours from the 11th and 12th overs before Bhatia broke the dangerous looking third wicket stand of 66 from 41 balls by removing Raina caught by Dilshan at the mid-wicket boundary.Raina faced 21 balls from which he hit two fours and an equal number of sixes.Badrinath, who was looking good for his fifty, gifted his wicket by playing across the line only to see his timbers knocked down by a Bhatia yorker for a 34-ball 45 which had four fours and two sixes.

rajasthan royals vs deccan chargers:DC's slopy work cause them to lose to RR

deccan chargers batting
rajasthan royals batting

Rajasthan Royals made a remarkable recovery from a top order slump to beat Deccan Chargers by three wickets in a thrilling Indian Premier League match here on Saturday.The Royals registered their third victory in the event from seven matches to put their title defence campaign on track, while the Deccan Chargers slumped to their second consecutive defeat to slide from the top of the points table.Chasing a modest 142-run target, the Royals rode on useful contributions from their lower middle order, especially young Abhishek Raut (36 off 23) to scamper home in 19.4 overs after they were tottering at 3/3 at one stage of the match.Earlier opting to bat, Adam Gilchrist (39) started the Chargers' innings on a blistering note, picking up 27 runs of the first three overs and then Rohit Sharma (38) and T Suman (41) stitched a crucial 59-run stand for the fourth wicket to guide Deccan Chargers to 141 for five.The Royals started their innings on a disastrous note as they lost three quick wickets by the end of the second over.

Graeme Smith's misery with the bat continued as he fell without troubling the scorers in the second ball off Fidel Edwards' opening over, caught at third man by Shoaib Ahmed.Swanpil Asnodkar did not do any justice either as he was run out by Gibbs in the very next ball and then Naman Ojha added more worries for the Royals when he gave a straight forward catch to Gibbs at point off RP Singh in the second over to see the defending champions slump to a precarious 3/3. But then came in Lee Carseldine, and in young Ravindra Jadeja's (12) company, the Queenslander added 51 runs in 7.1 overs for the fourth wicket to set the tone for the run chase.

The Queenslander showed why offence is always regarded as the best defence as he brought back the Royals' chase on track, hitting six fours enroute his 31-ball 39.But much to the dislike of Royals' supporters, the bowling change in the 10th over did the trick for Chargers as Venugopal Rao (2/23) broke the partnership, scalping both Jadeja and Carseldine's wickets in a span of four balls to see the defending champions struggle at 60/5 at the halfway mark.However, skipper Shane Warne (21) had other plans. Needing 74 off 54, he hoiked Rao over long on for a six and then added another after the bowler dropped an easy caught and ball chance in his previous delivery. Raut finished off the over with a cheeky four to take 17 runs of the eventful 12th over.

Pragyan Ojha (1/27) stopped Warne's cameo with Gilchrist easily pouncing on to a skier.Dangerous Yusuf Pathan (24 off 14) made his intentions clear from the word go. He struck two back-to-back sixes of Shaoib Mohammad in the 15th over to bring the Royals back in the hunt.With 11 runs needing off 13 balls, the game witnessed another anti-climax when Pathan got out, trying another big hit, caught by Gibbs off RP Singh (2/18). But Raut and Shane Harwood (3) ensured no further worries for the Royals bringing them home with two balls to spare.Earlier, Gilchrist struck Munaf for a boundary and a six over fine leg in the second over and then followed it up with two more fours of Yusuf Pathan's next over to signal his intentions.

Herschelle Gibbs (8) was the first to depart when in-form Pathan (1/19) caught him plumb in front of the wicket. However, the South African seemed unhappy with the decision.Debutant Shane Harwood (2/25) ensured double blow for the Chargers, picking up Azhar Bilakhia with his very first ball of the tournament, caught by Siddharth Trivedi to send the Hyderabad outfit in a spot of bother at 35/2.From there on, Gilchrist and new man in Rohit found boundaries hard to come by, but kept the scoreboard ticking with ones and twos.The former Australian wicket-keeper, however, cut lose in Shane Warne opening over, dispatching the leggie over long on.But Ravindra Jadeja (1/22) cut Gilchrist's innings short just two balls before the strategy break with Pathan taking a smart catch at short mid-wicket. But a 42-ball 59-run stand between Rohit and Suman finally saved the day for Chargers and ensured a decent total for the table toppers.Suman hit Warne for a four and six in consecutive balls in the 13th over to set the tone for the Chargers.Rohit too joined the party, dispatching Munaf over the mid-wicket fence in first ball of the 15th over and then followed it up with a boundary a delivery later.However, Rohit's over aggression finally did him with Warne latching on to an easy catch off Siddharth Trivedi just after the right-hander hit a six off the bowler in his previous delivery.