IPL 2 : Highlights of Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab

Kings XI Punjab won the toss and elected to bat.They could not score at great pace and managed only very little in the allotted 20 overs.This was mainly because they lost wickets at regular intervals. All the batting big guns of Punjab had to go early except Sangakkara who played well for his unbeaten 45.Punjab scored 119 in their allotted 20 overs.In reply Mumbai Indians scored 116 /7 in their allotted 20 overs.

Picture 1 : Yuvraj is very dejected and looks at his bat



Picture 2 : Sachin and Malinga celebrate the fall of Mahela's wicket



Picture 3 : Malinga celebrates after the fall of Ravi Bopara's wicket



Picture 4: Pathan is congratulated after dismissing dangerous Jayasuriya



Picture 5: Dumminy played a great innings before he was foxed by Abdulla



Picture 6 : Abdulla runs towards Yuvraj after a breath taking final over


Scoreboard

Kings XI Punjab

119/8 in 20 overs ( Kumar Sangakkara 45* )

Malinga 4-0-12-2

Mumbai Indians
116/7 in 20 overs ( Dumminy 59 )

Abdulla 4-0-19-2..

RESULT : Kings XI Punjab win by 3 runs and gain 2 points

Flintoff out of IPL due to injury

Andrew Flintoff suffered from a torn meniscus in his right knee.Surgery revealed that Flintoff has to miss the IPL and also the West Indies tour.This is a big loss for Chennai Superb Kings since they banked mainly on the all rounder.

This is a bog blow for CSK and already they have won only one match out of the 3 matches that they have played.This means that Mr.Cool (Dhoni ) has to find out some solution to marshal his men to win the remaining matches and at least reach the semi-finals

IPL : What is Superb Over ?

IPL has changed the rule from bowl out to superb over this time.The first Superb over match was between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals. ( KKR vs RR)

1) If the match between to team his a tie then each time gets one over to bat.The team which chased has to bat first.

2) Three players from each teams are allowed to bat.Preferably hitters will do since they have only one over to bat.

3) If they loose the 2 wickets within that one over then that is the score that has to be chased by the next team.If both the team have tie even after that then the team no of sixes and fours are seen in to account.

4) First the sixes are seen.If that is same then the number fours scored by both the team are seen.Which ever team is the highest they are the winners

IPL 2: Match 5: CSK vs RCB

The fourth match of the IPL was between Chennai Superb Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore.Royals where a confident side beating the last time champions Rajasthan Royals comfortably. M.S.Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat.the plan was to score sum huge total and put the pressure on the opposition.That is what they exactly did they scored 179/5 in the allotted 20 overs.Thanks to some lusty blows by Mathew Hayden and the little Parthiv Patel at the start of the innings.

Chasing 180 at 9 runs per overs is always a difficult task and some early wickets reduced RCB to 49/4.then it was just a catch up game.While playing a T20 game never you can succed if you go for the catch up game.Dravid played well for his 20 and Kallis for his 24.Apart from them the rest of the team looked totally out of shape.RCB where all out for 87.Some great bowling by Muralitharan was the main reason for that.

IPL : Sehwag says Vettori is the best spinner

Delhi Daredevils skipper commented about Daniel Vettori.He said that Vettori is th best spinner at present.He showered more praise on Vettori ans said that it is only because of his the teams bowling looks very strong.

Vettori is a very clever bowler and he can fox any world class batsman.He i the only T20 spinner to have the lowest economy rate of five.This time with Delhi Daredevils batting looking very strong they are surely a contenders for winning the IPL title .

IPL : Strategy break triggers heated debate

IPL chairman Lalit Modi has introduced a new concept caled strategic breaks in between each match.The strategic breaks after 10 overs is not welcomed by most of the International players.The new rule is that the in each innings after 10 overs of play there will be a strategy break where the teams can re-group and think how to approach the game for the next 10 overs.

Players don't like this since most of them say the momentum of the game will be lost.But Lalit Modi is insisting on it.I personally feel that he has introduced this concept to fix more slots for ads and earn more.He is a smart business man,that we all should know how efficiently he moved the IPL out of India.

IPL 2 Match 4: Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight Riders:RESULT Deccan Chargers won by 8 wickets (with 41 balls remaining)

the toss ws won by the Kolkata Knight Riders and they choose to bat.I expected some fire works especially from the new captain Mucullum.But he scored only one run.Another explosive batsman Gayle also did not last long.He went for 10 runs.The most expected man came in Ganguly.He played like a test match.Scored 1 of 12 balls.Thn BJ Hodge played some shots and scored 31 to take the teams score to 101.

In reply Deccan Charges did very well.Only captain Adam Gilcrist missed out.Apart from him Rohit Sharma and Gibbs played well to take Deccan charges to victory by 8 wickets.

IPL2 Match 3: Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab RESULT: Delhi Daredevils won the match by 10 wickets

The third Match of the IPL was between Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab.both the teams are very good on paper and extremely strong.So we all expected a great match.Preity Zinta was cheering the Kings XI Punjab.But the rain had the last laugh.The shortened version o the game was much more shortened.Kings XI Punjab scored for 104 in the allotted 12 overs.

Rain interrupted again and The Delhi Daredevils won the match by 10 wickets.Great on onslaught by Sehwag and Gauti.Delhi Daredevils where home comfortably.They scored 58 runs in 5 overs.

IPL Match 2 :LIVE UPDATE : RCB win by 75 runs against the Rajasthan Royals

The Royal Challengers Bangalore win the match against the last time champions Rajasthan Royals by 75 runs.The RCB batted first and there was a early collapse when AD Mascarenhas struck in the same over twice.RCB where reduced to 0/2.In came the RCB captain Pieterson to negotiate the Hat trick ball.Then he played well along with Dravid to stride a partnership.When this pair was looking dangerous Pieterson threw away is wicket.Then it is was a lone battle waged by Dravid as he played very well to reach his half century and in the allotted 20 overs they scored 133 for the loss of 8 wickets.

In reply it must have been an easy win for the last time IPL champions.But by some great bowling by Pravin Kumar and Jesse Ryder in the beginning reduced the Rajasthan Royals for 28-5.then came Anil Kumble in to the attack to bowl a spell of his life time.He took the remaining 5 wickets by just giving 5 runs.Rajasthan Royals where all-out for a mere score of 58 runs.Thus the Royal Challengers Bangalore beat the last time IPL champions by a huge margin of 75 runs.

Cheerleaders in IPL 2009

Cheerleaders are th new form of entertainment in cricket.This was introduced with Twenty twenty cricket and it has been a huge hit.The only disappointment for me is that all the cheerleaders are foreigners and no team as opted for Indian cheerleaders.Only Chennai Superb Kings which opted for Indian cheerleaders last time have also gone for foreign cheerleaders this time.Very disappointing to know this but it is quite true.

My personal opinion is that they are trying to add new flavor to cricket but will it last long.Certainly I am not sure.We have to wait and see.If you have any idea to share with me post your ideas as a comment.Hope you post some comments.Thanks waiitng for you reply.

Parade by all team before the IPL 2009

IPL 2009 in South Africa started in grand style.All the teams had a parade and the whole scene was really colorful.There where many programs that was there and most of them where very entertaining.Out of all the programs the teams had a parade which looked very colorful and the noise that the crowd made looked how crazy the South African people where for cricket.

I am adding some of the pics which look very colorful.Waiting for your comments.If you like this post leve a comment.I will come with more updates.

IPL Match 1 : LIVE UPDATE Mumbai Indians beat Chennai Superb Kings by 19 runs

The first match of the IPL was not quite interesting and fascinating when compared to last year.Last year we had a very entertain knock by Kolkata Knight Riders wicket keeper Mucullum who happens to be this year's captain for KKR.Fien getting back to the match.The toss which looked crucial was won by Dhoni an Dhoni elected to field first.Sachin and Sanath had a 39 run partnership afetr which Sanath was out.Then some re building was done bu Mumbai Indians and they scored 165/7.Thanks to some great batting by Sachin and a very good cameo innings by Abishek Nayar.

The hero of today 's match was a stray dog which entered the ground.The officials had a hard time without and found it extremely difficult to take out of the ground.Play was delayed for at least 10 minutes because of this.

In reply CSK had a horrible start loosing Parthiv Patel in the first over itself.Then last year prolific run scorer Suresh Raina came to the crease and he did not last long.Mathew Hayden and Flintoff had a partnership and things look back on track for CSK when Flintoff lost his wicket to Harbhajan.then Dhoni came in and tried his best.But no use CSK only managed to score 146/7 in the allotted 20 overs and lost the match by 20 runs.

Match 1 : CSK vs MI

The first match of the IPL 2009 has started.the match is between Dhoni lead team CSK and Sachin lead team Mumbai Indians.The toss has been tossed up.Dhoni called for the toss.Dhoni 's call was heads and he was right and he won the toss.Dhoni opted to field first.The conditions in South Africa are overcast and so I would backup Dhoni's decision to field first.

MATCH VERDICT

CSK and Mumbai Indians are both equally good side.It is very tough to predict the winner.But since toss for this match is crucial and luckily Dhoni won it I feel this match completely belongs to Dhoni's men unless or until some great batting display by
some big guns in Mumbai Indians.I would bet on the likes of Sanath Jayasuriya or Sachin to do the job.I woluld update you with the scores.Stay tuned !!!

RESULT

My view and the predictions where wrong Mumbai Indians won the match comfortably.They beat Chennai Superb Kings by 20 runs to win the first match.Sachin must be a very happy man.

Kaif axed from Rajasthan Royals

Mohammad Kaif, along with seven other players, have been asked to fly back home from South African Team.The main big gun who has been axed from Rajasthan Royals is Kaif.He was paid more than Shane Warne last time.But the performance of Kaif was below par and he had just an average of 16 in the last year IPL.

Reports suggest that Shane Warne was not happy with Kaif's performance and that was a main reason for axing one of the senior players of the team.Kaif was paid $ 675,000 last time.This means that it is really tough for Kaif to get back in to the team.I personally feel that this is not the way to treat Kaif.He is one of the most dedictaed guys in the International level.He is a team man.Rajasthan Royals are going to suffer without Kaif.

SRK says sorry to Gavaskar

The Multiple captain theory by the team coach was the start for all the problems.The problem started with Ganguly and John Buchanan.Then SRK the owner of Kolkata Knight Riders solved the problem by announcing only one captain for this IPL.

Then when Sunil Gavaskar commented on this incident the problem became more worse and SRK back fired at Gavaskar.Now SRK has realized that he has done a mistake and apologized for that to Gavaskar.

IPL : BestCaptains

IPL (Indian Premier League ) is goin to underway .The first match is between CSK and Rajasthan Royals.There are totally eight teams.It is tough to choose which team is goin to win.But the best captains i would suggest for this IPL are

M.S.Dhoni (Mr.Cool and last time runner up team captain)
Sourav Ganguly (Bengal Tiger gives his best only during times of crisis.)
Shane Warne ( Proactive and agressive captain)

So I personally feel these are the teams to watch out for.This time around the intensity of the game is very high.We will see some very good matches.Countdown has began .Only 4 days to go for the DLF IPL to kick off.

Warne's Rajasthan Royals lose IPL warm-up

Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals did not start their IPL camp as they wanted .Their first outing in South African campaign they lost by 27 runs against the Cape Cobras in the 1st IPL warm-up match at Newlands.

The two teams missed there champion players.Rajasthan Royals had only 4 of its winning players in th e team this time and most of the key players from South African T20 team were also missing.Thus both sides looked evenly balanced.

Cape Cobras 142-8 in 20 overs but the Rajasthan Royals managed only 115 in 19 overs and so the last time champions last the game by 27 runs.Shane Warne quoted to the media that it was disappointing to start on a losing note.Is this an indication that this time Rajasthan Royals are going to make an early exit.We have to wait and watch.

Hussey to pull out of IPL

Hussey is following the foot steps of his captain and he is the latest cricketer who has pulled out from the IPL.The CSK spokesperson has termed that missing Hussey will be a huge loss for the team.Even though Hussey will be available for only 4 to 5 matches his presence will make a huge difference in the team.He is such an important player ans that was very much evident in the last time IPL.

If the CSK are able to reach semi-finals Hussey would be available to play.Right now he has quoted that he is "Home sick" and wants to spend some time with his family.Will the CSK s reach semi's are the absence of Hussey will hurt them very badly.We have to wait and watch !!!

Flintoff says will not allow IPL to compromise Ashes dream

England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff one of the highest bid players for this IPL will play for Chennai Superb Kings said that he is looking for to IPL as a learning phase which will help him to phase the worlds best players and help him to increase his knowledge about the strength sand weakness of some the world's best batsman.

He stated to the media that playing IPL will only enrich his dreams of recapturing the Ashes from the Australians.The current form of Flintoff has considerably improved and he was the main element of England winning the series against the West Indies 3-2.

Chennai Superb Kings will be hoping that Flintoff continues his good form and will prove worth it the money for which u was got.On paper CSK looks to be a very balanced side.It all depends upon how they perform.

Ticket rates for IPL 2

The tickets for the opening match as been already sold out.The match is between Chennai Superb Kings and Mumbai Indians.Both are really strong teams with Ms Dhoni caprain for CSK and Sachin captain for Mumbai Indians.

The ticket rates for the matches are considerably very low this time.The IPL officialls have placed at a highly affordable rates.The lowest ticket cost Rs 70 (Indian rupees) and the highest ticket cost little more than Rs 1000.

The countdown has already started and to select a winner from the team his very tough.Who are is goin to win the cup it is going to be great fun watching thses matches.

Pietersen defends IPL trip

Kevin Pietersen has defended his decision to take part in the IPL despite being home sick.Kevin Pieterson his not in the best of the touch and right now he his facing a lot o fproblems within his team.He clarified that he missed his wife badly and wanted to see her.

KP defends his decision of playing the IPL saying that he will play against the best players in the world.It would be a learning experience to face the best in the business and triumph with that .This time KP his the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore.

CSK 's Oram is a doubtful starter for IPL

New Zealand all rounder Jacob Oram aggravated an Achilles tendon strain while playing the county match.This injury made himself unavailable for the ongoing Test series against India in which India lead the series 1-0 with 1 match to go.Black caps pinned there hopes that Oram would be back for the third and the final test.But Oram has announced that he wont be available for the third test also.

Buzz is that he is resting himself to play the cash prize mega event IPL.But he denied these speculations and told that if he is not completely recovered he wont take risk and play in IPL.

After hearing this the Chennai Super Kings(CSK) are worried since he is a key player for the team.CSK captain Dhoni and CSK coach and player Stephen Fleming are trying to convince him ...We have to wait and see what actually happens.Will the absence of Oram be a great loss for CSK.

Ganguly the sole captain for Kolkata Knight Riders

Dada is back in the driver seat.He has retained his captaincy.SRK announced that Ganguly will remain as the captain for Kolkata Knight Riders.The policy of having rotational skippers is not adopted as of now and so Dada will retain his captaincy.

SRK announced this to the media after a four hour meeting with Ganguly in Mumbai.So the theory of John Buchanan is not taken in to account..Will Dada prove it right.We have to wait and see how Ganguly carries himself and his team.Generally ganguly perform very well under pressure.He is one of the cricketers to have made the BIGGEST COMEBACK in the International career.BENGAL TIGER will have the answers for all his critics.