SHOAIB AKTHAR RUNS THROUGH THE DAREDEVILS : KOLKATA PULLS A RABBIT OF THE BAG

Shoaib Akthar destroyed the Daredevils with a battering ram of a spell taking 4-11. Shoaib Akthar accounted for Sehwag , Gambhir, De villiers and Tiwari in his opening spell to help the Knight Riders defend a paltry 136. Shoaib Akthar was declared man of the match. L R Shukla also joined the party taking 3 wickets.

Kolkata won the toss and elected to bat with Akash Chopra and Salman Butt opening the batting. The Knight Riders were off to a cautious start with Butt being the more aggressive of the two openers.

After the slow start the Knight Riders found themselves in further trouble losing the wickets of Sourav and Chopra, stuttering at 48-2 after 7 overs. After which the process rebuilding was taken on by Kolkata's Mr. Dependable, David Hussey, and Butt.

Just as things were beginning to look good, Butt lost his wicket trying to push the tempo. They were at 91-3, which was followed by a miniature batting collapse brought about by some good tight bowling by the Daredevil bowlers like Maharoof, Sangwan & Mishra.

Hussey stood tall amidst the carnage giving the Knight Riders' total a measure of respectability by reaching 133-6.

Delhi, starting with Sehwag and Gambhir, must have been supremely confident of wrapping the match up. But the Rawalpindi Express, Shoaib Akthar, had other ideas, opening the bowling for the Knight Riders. Shoaib Akthar was breathing fire from ball one, bowling at 150 kmph.

Shoaib Akthar blitzed through the top order, accounting for Sehwag , Gambhir, De villiers and Tiwari with some good old-fashioned fast bowling. Delhi was reeling at 28-4, attempts for revival brushed aside as Delhi kept losing wickets at regular intervals owing to some tight bowling and fielding by Kolkata. Delhi found itself at 73-6.

Maharoof and Mishra staged a mini comeback, only to be nipped at the bud by a brilliant piece of fielding by Dinda to run Maharoof out. This was followed by a remarkable over by L R Shukla in which he took 3 wickets in 5 balls. Delhi was all out for 110.

With this victory the Knight Riders are back in the hunt for a semi-final berth. Delhi seems to be losing form just when it matters. Will they make it ?? only time will tell.

IPL : TOP 5 PERFORMERS

If one were to look at the performances IPL( Indian Premier League) at the half way stage, there have been few outstanding performances . Here are my top 5 heroes.

let us start with the top 5 Indian players in league.

1. M S Dhoni ( Chennai Super Kings)
   
2. V. Shewag (Delhi Daredevils) & I.pathan (Kings XI Punjab)
3. Y. Pathan (Rajasthan Royals) & G. Gambhir (Delhi Daredevils)
4. S. Ganguly (Kolkata Knight Riders) & P. Chawla (Kings XI Punjab)
5. R. Sharma ( Deccan Chargers) & R.Uthappa (Mumbai Indians)

Dhoni is at the top of the list, as his performance with the bat and as captain have been exemplary. By ensuring he is there at end for the final surge.

Shewag and Irfan have been performing with the bat and ball respectively ensuring their teams succes.


Yusuf Pathan has been revelation of sorts at the top of the Rajasthan Royals top order. He has been a critical player in his teams surge to the top. Gambhir is one of the very few players who appears to be in total control in this format with his attacking brand of batting

Dada Ganguly appears to be a man on mission, as he turning heads with his bowling and steadily finding his touch with the bat. Chawla appears to have come of age as bowler, recovering from a bad start in tournament to a wicket taking bowler.

Rohit Sharma has been one of the lone bright points of an under performing Deccan chargers side. Robin Uthappa seems to have found the responsibility in his batting that appeared to be lacking in Australia.

The other people who deserve a mention are Zaheer, Nehra, Balaji and Munaf patel. All seem to be hitting some good form after injury layoffs.

All in all the future of Indian cricket looks good shape.

Top 5 foreign players

1. S. Watson (Rajasthan Royals)
2. G. Mcgrath (Delhi Daredevils) & S. Warne (Rajasthan Royals)
3. D. Hussey (Kolkata Knight Riders) & S. Marsh (Kings XI Punjab)
4. M. Hayden (Chennai Super Kings)& M. Hussey (Chennai Super Kings)
5. S. Pollock (Mumbai Indians) & D. Steyn (Bangalore Royal Challengers)

Shane Watson has been the talk of the Indian Premier league. A player bought at throw away price of 125,000$. He has been setting the tournament on fire with sizzling batting and consistent bowling.

Age seems to have no effect on the bowling machine called Glen Mcgrath. He is still as effective as ever, bought for 350,000$ he is worth every single penny. Shane Warne has shown why he was called the best player not to captain Australia. His bowling just like the Mcgrath seems to have remained unchanged.

The younger Hussey ,David has become Mr. dependable of the Kolkata, He is the main reason for their batting line up to perform so consistently. His price tag 625,000 appears justified. Shaun Marsh has been the surprise package of the tournament. He with his elegant strokes has been at the center of the Punjab revival. He averages an incredible 91 in the tournament.

The Chennai who started so well seem to be faltering off late, due to the depature of their pillars in batting Hayden and Hussey. Both of these Australians have been well worth their price tag, with an average of nearly 50.

The performance of the old warhorse Shaun Pollock makes you wonder, how he was dropped from the South African team? His batting and bowling has been performance has been extraordinary. Dale Steyn has been the only bright spot in an otherwise lack luster Bangalore team. His fiery bowling has ensured some amount of respectability for Bangalore.

Top 5 Indian Youngsters

1. A. Nayar (Mumbai Indians)& S.Trivedi (Rajasthan Royals)
2. R. Jadeja (Rajasthan Royals)
3. A. Binda (Kolkata Knight Riders)
4. D. Kulkarni (Mumbai Indians)
5. S. Badrinath (Chennai Super Kings)

Nayar appears to be one for the future as an all rounder. His bowling coupled with his explosive batting makes him one to watch in the future. My other choice for number 1 is a bowler for the Rajasthan Royals Trivedi, has been one of the most consistent bowlers in tournament. His economy rates is one of the lowest in the tournament.



R. Jadeja is my pick for an India cap in the next year or so. An aggressive middle order batsman with all the strokes in the book. His agile fielding is also an added advantage.

Ashok Binda, the opening bowler for for the Knight Riders has been very impressive in his role. He his nippy and very accurate and has been a consistent performer for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Dhawal Kulkarni is another promising bowler from the Mumbai Indians. A first change bowler he has consistent and accurate. He appears to be thinking bowler something not common to most young upcoming bowlers.

My last of the top 5 S. Badrinath, is one I am sure will play for India before the year is done. The swashbuckling batsman has been scoring runs in the domestic league by the dozen. He was off to slow start in IPL but slowly seems to be settling in. His passion and enthusiasm is there for every one to see.

Other notable performances have come from Manpreet Gony (Chennai Super Kings), Amit Mishra (Delhi Daredevils) & Yo Mahesh (Delhi Daredevils).

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE: HALFWAY STAGE

The IPL (Indian Premier League) has reached the halfway stage. It is pretty clear the IPL (Indian Premier League) is giving the saans bahu serials of Ekta Kapoor a run for its money. With its fair share drama and controversies theIPL (Indian Premier League) is the fast becoming a must watch for a cricket crazy nation.

The advent of the IPL (Indian Premier League), has surely killed off the possibility of any other sport coming to prominence in this one sport nation. Mr Lalit Modi has sadly given this country the one thing it can never get tired off, cricket.

I am not some one who hates cricket but I would like to see other sports in India gain prominence. At this juncture I would like draw attention to the so called "the spirit of game " in the IPL (Indian Premier League).

The incidents such as the verbal spat between Ganguly and Warne, the now infamous slapgate between Sreesanth and Harbahajan make, you wonder where the feeling of sportsmanship has gone??

I mean one has to spare a thought for the ICL(Indian Cricket League), because of whom the IPL(Indian Premier League) came into existence. I would also like to point out that matches in ICL(Indian Cricket League) were not ones where the bowlers massacred, totals were more in the range 140-160. I would disagree with any one who says that the level of cricket was anything below par.

But the stand out feature of this IPL (Indian Premier League) has the been performance of the local talent. Contrary to popular belief the fortunes of the teams have depended on these unsung heroes . For example The Rajasthan Royals are a team with no real big names other than Shane Warne but they have been the team to beat so far in this IPL(Indian Premier League). All because of their local talent such as Siddarth Diwedi Jadeja etc.

The Deccan Chargers are prime example of what can happen when there is no real local talent around, having lost its best to the ICL (Indian Cricket League)with in likes of Rayadu, I S Reddy etc. They have one the very best set of foreign players but with a lack of support cast find themselves as one of the bottom dwellers in IPL(Indian Premier League).

All in all the Ipl (Indian Premier League) has been able to keep the interest in the public going. With even teams performing poorly such Deccan chargers and Bangalore playing to packed stadiums. Will these fans be back year after year?? only time will tell.

SUPER KINGS VS ROYAL CHALLENGERS: DHONI SHOWS HIS METTLE

Going in to this match, the pressure was on the Royal challengers having won only 1 out of their previous 3 games. Dravid's team seemed to be feeling the effects of the having an inexperienced bowling attack, with no real leader in the bowling department they seemed to be involved in a leather hunt during every match. On the hand super kings seem to be going from strength to strength in every department. With likes of Hayden and Hussey on song their batting line up is firing on all cylinders. The return to form of Jacob Oram in bowling department has bolstered the Chennai team.

At start of the game there was one notable change in chennai line up as Muttiah was replaced by Albie Morkel and Dale steyn was brought into the Bangalore outfit to provide some much needed teeth to the bowling. Chennai won the toss and elected to bat. This move payed immediate dividence as Styen opened with a fiery spell, ably supported by Zaheer. Parthiv and Hayden were dismissed early, Chennai Seemed to be stuttering at 43-2 , but then enter Mr. Cricket Michael Hussey. Along with captain Dhoni rebuilt the innings and from th 16th over Dhoni took the attack to the opposition taking a special liking to Steyn. Taking him for 23 runs in the 19th over. The Chennai super kings finished with 178.

Bangolre in reply did not start too well, with Jaffer showing that he is not a natural when it comes to this format. Chipli palyed a rash shot and lost his wicket cheaply, with Bangalore staring down the barrel at 20-1 needed a hero. Ross Taylor answered the call for his team with some lusty blows that resembled a man hacking a tree but very effective none the less. Out of the blue Jaffer seemed to have woken up to the fact that this was a t20 game. Jaffer opened up with some splendid blows and it seemed as if Taylor and Jaffer would guide them through. But Bangalore then committed cricket suicide, with some poor shot selection. At this point I would like to question the selection policy for Bangalore choosing not to play Misbah-ul-Haq. The lack of calm head in the middle for the royal challengers, was more than obvious. A lack of application ensured that Bangalore snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. They finished at 165 all out.

DECCAN CHARGERS VS MUMBAI INDIANS : THE GILCHRIST SHOW ALL THE WAY

Going in to the 14th match of IPL (Indian Premier League ) both the Deccan chargers and the Mumbai Indians had no wins from 3 games. Which meant that this game was a must win game. The Deccan chargers went in to this game, after heart breaking loss to the Rajasthan Royals, a game which they should have won. Mumbai Indians on other have been suffering from losses on and off the field starting with , the injury to their leader Sachin, followed by heavy losses to Chennai and Mohali and now with the suspension of Harbhajan following the brawl with Sreesanth.

The Deccan chargers won the the toss and elected bowl. The new D Y Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai offered a picture perfect back drop for this crucial encounter. Shaun Pollock took on role of captain for Mumbai in the absence of Sachin and Bhajji. Laxman brought in Nuwan Zoysa for Chaminda Vaas . The Indians got off to the worst possible losing wickets early at regular intervals. They were stuttering at 56-4 in the 11th over. This brought Bravo and Pollock together, they went of about rebuilding the innings. Just as the recovery operation seemed to be working, Pollock got out trying to push tempo. This brought the promising Abhishek Nayar to the crease. The youngster did not disappoint by dismissing the ball to all parts of the ground and showing some much needed urgency. But his cameo innings was brought to end by RP singh. But Bravo continued where he left off and Mumbai finished with a fighting total off 154.


The Deccan Chargers came out all guns blazing relying heavily on the blade of the Adam Gilchrist. It seemed as if the Indian bowlers for some reason that cannot be explained wanted to check if Gilly can play the short ball. Laxman on the other hand was quietly returning the strike to Gilchrist who belligerent mood. Gilchrist took a special liking to Shaun Pollock in the 7th over carting him for 3 sixes and 1 four. Gilchrist continued his bludgeoning of the Mumbai attack by taking apart the youngster Nayar. Gilly brings up his 100 in the same over. Gilchrist 100 of 42 balls is the fastest in the tournament. By the 13th over believe it or not the match was over. The Chargers had finally got on the board with a win. On the other hand, time is running out for the Indians to get things going.

Indian Premier League -A New Chapter in Cricket

The inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) flagged of in Bangalore on Friday 18 th of April. To say that the opening ceremony was spectacular would be an understatement of considerable magnitude. It seemed that Lalit Modi had spared no expense in ensuring that the league was to start of with a bang. At this juncture one acknowledge the manner in which Mr. Modi has marketed the league. The success of which can be seen from the fact that teams like the Rajasthan Royals also are playing in front of packed stadiums.

It was very evident at the end of T20 world cup that this format of the game was here to stay. The IPL has clearly shown that it not only here to stay but is the future of the game. The part that gives me most is pleasure is that, finally the local talent in our country gets to play in front of packed stadiums. The initial few matches have shown that there is no lack of cricketing talent in this country players like Ashok binda( Kolkata Knight Riders), R. Jadeja (Rajasthan Royals), Karan Goel ( kings XI Punjab), Shikhar Dhawan( Delhi Daredevils),Virat Kholi ( Royal Challengers Bangalore) standing out with their performances. Till the advent of the Indian Premier League (IPL) the chance to play to full stadium and ever growing T V audience was reserved only to chosen few who have been lucky enough to dawn the Indian colors.

One also has to give due credit to the administrators as they have ensured that the league was not turned into a monopoly of foreign players. I guess the the real test of the league will be whether the initial euphoria and excitement can be sustained over a period of 44 days. Time will be the best answer to this question, but till then all i can say is that support your team favorite team and have a blast doing it.

Chargers!!!
And for all of you who would like to watch it online

here are a few LIVE STREAMING LINKS FOR CRICKET (IPL)
http://acricket.com/
http://livecricketzone.blogspot.com/