It was a good day for Praveen Kumar of Royal Challengers bangalore who registered the first hat-trick in the ongoing third IPL season.

Praveen along with Kumble and Kallis destroyed the Rajasthan Royals to just 92 and posted a huge 10 wicket win. Except Yusuf Pathan (26) nobody made a mark with bat in Rajasthan team.

Manish Pandey (42 not out) and Jacques Kallis (44 not out) finished off the Bangalore chase with 56 balls remaining. Jacques Kallis was declared man of the match.

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Royal Challengers Bangalore registered an excellent win by 8 wickets against Kings XI Punjab who set a target of 204. Bangalore was successful in finishing the chase with seven balls remaining.

Bopara (77) and Bisla (75) laid a good start for the Kings but Kallis (89 not out, 4*8, 6*5) and Uthappa (51, 4*4, 4*6) stole the show from the Punjab XI before the completion of 20 overs.

It was a shower of boundaries from both sides with Kings XI Punjab striking many fours and few sixes while Bangalore Royal Challengers showcased with many sixes and few fours.

Jacques Kallis was declared Man of the Match.

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India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his deputy Yuvraj Singh continued to hold on to the top two spots in the latest ICC ODI Players Ranking issued on Monday. Apart from these two, Sachin Tendulkar is in 7th spot while Delhi opener Virender Sehwag is in 9th place.

No Indian features among thr top 10 ODI bowlers. Left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan is at 17th place in the list which is headed by Sri Lankan Nuwan Kulasekara followed by New Zealand Daniel Vettori and Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh.

In the allrounders chart, Yuvraj Singh is occupying the second place with 362 rating points behind Shakib (427), while South African Jacques Kallis is third with 332 points.

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Sachin Tendulkar is back to the top-10 ODI batsman list in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for the first time in 10 months after scoring his 44th one-day century against Sri Lanka at the finals of the Compaq Cup 2009 in Colombo on Monday.

Tendulkar soared five places to 7th in the latest rankings which was released today. India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni grabbed the top spot from Yuvraj Singh to lead the table among ODI batsman.

Meanwhile, Yuvraj Singh leapfrogged Jacques Kallis of South Africa, Jacob Oram of New Zealand and Andrew Flintoff of England into second place after scoring 80 runs and picking four wickets in the tri-series.

Sri Lanka’s veteran opener Sanath Jayasuriya has moved up four places to 17th spot after a tallying a total of 141 runs in the tri-series.

Indian openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir dropped two places each after both missed the series due to injuries.

New Zealand’s Ross Taylor slipped five places to 22nd and Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardena slipped seven places to share 37th spot with Australia’s Brad Haddin.

Among bowlers, New Zealand’s Kyle Mills dropped two places to fourth, allowing Daniel Vettori and Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh to move up the order.

Comeback man, New Zealand’s Shane Bond, finds himself in eighth position in the rankings, while Thilan Thushara, Ishant Sharma and Lasith Malinga have all jumping six places each to 24th, 33rd and 42nd positions respectively.

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Indian cricketers have failed to find a place in the World Twenty20 squad released by ICC in London on Monday. The squad consists of four Pakistan, three Sri Lanka, three South Africa and two West Indies players.

Member of Team India, who failed miserably in the T20 world championship, could not find a place in the ICC’s World T20 XI.

Younus Khan, who bids adieu to the shortest version of the game, has been made the skipper of the team alongwith his Pakistan team-mates all-rounder Shahid Afridi, wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal and paceman Umar Gul.

Sri Lanka’s Tillakratne Dilshan, player of the tournament, named as an opener alongwith the West Indies Chris Gayle while South Africa Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers included for the middle-order.

West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, teenage South Africa paceman Wayne Parnell and Sri Lanka spinner Ajantha Mendis complete the line-up, with Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga as the 12th man.

ICC’s World Twenty20 squad:

Jacques Kallis (SA), AB de Villiers (SA), Shahid Afridi (Pak), Kamran Akmal (Pak), Chris Gayle (WI), Tilakratne Dilshan (SL), Mohammed Younus Khan (Pak, Skipper), Dwayne Bravo (WI), Wayne Parnell (SA), Umar Gul (Pak), Ajantha Mendis (SL), Lasith Malinga (SL)

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New Zealand beat Ireland by 83 runs in the first Super Eight match at Trent Bridge. In the other match, South Africa beat the host England by seven wickets.

Match 13: New Zealand Vs Ireland

The debutant of New Zealand team, Aaron Redmond played fantastic stroke by hitting 63 in his first international match. Guptill and Styris also contributed to their teams score to raise upto 199 in 20 overs. The comparatively weaker team Ireland managed to score 115 from 16.4 overs losing all the wickets. Andre Botha contributed 28 runs for Ireland. Nathan McCullum slammed 3-15 for Kiwis.

Redmond was declared man of the match.

Match 14: England Vs South Africa

England scored 111 from 20 overs while the South Africans scored 114 with 10 balls remaining. Owais Shah scored 38 for England which being the highest from their side. Jacques Kallis scored 57 not out, helped his team for an easy win. Wayne Parnell, Kallis and Merwe slammed 3, 2 and 2 wickets which helped to restrict England score.

Jacques Kallis was declared man of the match for his excellent batting and bowling figures.

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Tournament favourites South Africa lived up to their expectations in the World Twenty20, beating Scotland by a mammoth 130-run margin in a Group D match at the Oval on Sunday.

Put into bat first, South Africa posted a huge 211 for five in 20 overs with AB de Villiers hitting a whirlwind unbeaten 79 off just 34 balls and Jacques Kallis scoring 48.

South African bowlers packed up Scotland for just 81 in only 15.4 overs. The total was marginally better than the lowest score of 73 recorded by Kenya against New Zealand at the World Championship two years ago in Durban.

South Africa’s total, which was their highest in Twenty20, was set after some stunning display by de Villiers and Albie Morkel (24) in the last few overs after skipper Graeme Smith (38) and Kallis gave them a solid start.

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Deccan Chargers completed an extraordinary journey from being at the bottom of the table last year to win the second edition of the Indian Premier League, defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore by six runs in a exciting final at the New Wanderers on Sunday.

There was no lack of excitement and heartbreak in the title clash as the 37-day, 59 match tournament ended with a fitting finale between last year’s bottom two sides.

Royal Challengers captain Anil Kumble used his guile and experience to claim four wickets and restrict the formidable Chargers to 143 after winning the toss. Herschelle Gibbs top-scored for Chargers with an unbeaten 53 while Andrew Symonds contributed 33. 

The Challengers, who were coming on the back of five successive wins, were never on the top of the chase and lost wickets at regular intervals. They lost five wickets in the last six overs and finished at 137-9.

Andrew Symonds (3-18), Pragyan Ojha (3-28) and Harmeet Singh (2-23) all chipped in with the ball.

Ross Taylor (27) held the Bangalore innings together at a difficult time, but two successive blows by Symonds tilted the scales in the Chargers favour. Challengers needed 45 off 36 balls at that stage.

Taylor holed out to Venugopal Rao in the deep and Virat Kohli was out to a brilliant piece of stumping by Gilchrist. Harmeet Singh, in the next over took out Mark Boucher, who gave a straight catch to Gibbs at point.

Robin Uthappa (17) kept the team in the hunt and Challengers needed 27 off the last two overs. Uthappa and Vinay Kumar took 12 runs off the first five balls of Ryan Harris, before the latter was out to a brilliant catch by Harmeet at long leg.

RP Singh kept his nerve in the last over and Uthappa could hit only one four off the fifth ball, but it was all over for Chargers by then.

Earlier, Challengers’ in-form opening pair of Manish Pandey (4) and Jacques Kallis (16) got out without making much on the scoreboard.

Kallis hit Ryan Harris for two fours before dragging a RP Singh delivery onto the stumps.

Van der Merwe (32) meant business straightway, hitting Harris for two sixes but Ojha, who has been in impressive form through out the tournament dismissed Pandey and Merwe.

Taylor and Dravid looked to build a partnership by adding 22 runs, but Dravid went for a paddle shot and was bowled by Harmeet Singh.

Earlier, Challengers were off to a great start as Kumble, opening the attack, bowled for a duck the dangerous Andrew Gilchrist, who had single-handedly crushed Delhi Daredevils in the semifinals.

Suman fell to a good running catch by Pandey off Vinay Kumar in the fourth over. Symonds was dropped on five by Rahul Dravid in the slips, but could not do much and became Kumble’s second victim.

Gibbs smashed three boundaries and two sixes in 48 balls while Symonds faced 21 balls and cracked four boundaries and a six. The pair shared a third wicket stand of 40 runs to bring the Chargers back on track.

Kumble removed Rohit Sharma for 24 and Venugopal Rao for a duck in the 17th over.

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The Royals Challengers Bangalore recorded a much-needed win over the table toppers Delhi Daredevils to keep their semifinal hope alive. The Royal Challengers beat Delhi Daredevils by 7 wickets in a crucial IPL match at The Wanderers in Johannesburg. With this victory, Royal Challengers now have 14 points from 13 matches. They will make it to the semis, if they win their last match against the Deccan Chargers on May 21.

After electing to bat first, Delhi had a disastrous start with both Sehwag and Manhas failing for a duck. Gautam Gambhir made 27, while AB de Villiers scored 28. Dinesh Karthik was the top scorer with 31. Yogesh Nagar contributed 20. The Delhi Daredevils put up 134/7 in 20 overs. Praveen Kumar took three while skipper Anil Kumble took two wickets in the innings.

Chasing a victory target of 135, Royal Challengers Bangalore lost Robin Uthappa at the beginning. However, Kallis and Dravid prevented further damage and added 70 runs for the second wicket. Dravid made 38. Ross Taylor also contributed 25 off 12 balls to raise the run rate.

Kallis smashed an unbeaten 56-ball 58, as Royal Challengers Bangalore reached 135/3 in 19 overs. For Daredevils, Yogesh Nagar took 2 wickets. Jacques Kallis was declared Man of the Match.

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Ross Taylor smashed an unbeaten half-century as the Royals Challengers Bangalore kept themselves in contention for an Indian Premier League semi-final spot with a six-wicket victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Taylor’s 81 off 33 deliveries overshadowed an unbeaten 84 off 64 from Brendon McCullum, which had helped the Knight Riders reach 173 for four after being asked to take first strike.

David Hussey chipped in with a knock of 43 from 27 deliveries and put on 70 runs for the third wicket with McCullum, but Taylor stole the show.

The Royal Challengers began their chase confidently with openers Jacques Kallis (32) and Jesse Ryder (22) putting on 58 for the opening wicket in fairly good time.

McCullum used five bowlers inside the first six overs but the duo had smashed 46 in the powerplays when Murali Karthik halted the scoring with a tidy spell and a brace of wickets.

The left-arm spinner first sent back Kallis, although the wicket came more through a brilliant catch from McCullum at short cover.

Robin Uthappa was his second victim – caught in the deep – and when Ryder fell to Ajit Agarkar shortly after, the Royal Challengers’ line-up was in danger of unravelling.

But Taylor went on the attack immediately, clubbing Karthik for consecutive sixes in the bowler’s final over and hitting Angelo Mathews for successive boundaries in the next over.

Taylor dragged the Royal Challengers back on course with a 48-run stand for the third wicket with Rahul Dravid and continued to hit boundaries at will after Dravid’s fall in the 16th over.

The Royal Challengers needed 94 from the last eight overs but Taylor reduced the gap to 55 from the last five and 21 from the last two overs, and eventually to five from the last over. He then brought up victory with a six, as the Royal Challengers reached their target with four deliveries to spare, and with Mark Boucher not out on 13.

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