Chennai Super Kings have clinched the DLF IPL season 3 Champions title beating Mumbai Indians by 22 runs in the excellent nail biting game played at Dr D Y Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday.

Chennai after winning the toss chose to bat first and made 168/5 from the 20 overs while Mumbai on their chase were able to make only 146/9 from 20 overs.

Sachin (48 from 45 balls, 7*4), Abhishek Nayar (27 from 26 balls, 1*4, 2*6), Rayudu (21 from 14 balls, 1*4, 1*6) and Pollard (27 from 10 balls, 3*4, 2*6) contributed decently for the MUmbai while rest of them made single digit runs.

For the Super Kings everyone contributed well and made it big at the end of the match.

It is to be remembered that Chennai lost to Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural IPL season and during the second season they lost in the semis.

Chennai also hold the strange record of posting the highest ever total of 246 vs Rajasthan Royals in IPL Season 3 and the second highest winning total of 240 vs Kings XI Punjab in IPL Season 1. Also they have the record for the lowest ever winning score of 55/0 vs Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL Season 1.

With this Chennai have proved that they are the real Super Kings and have become the DLF IPL Champions of 2010.

Related posts

• Mumbai Indians hire Amre as assistant coach (0)
• Deccan Chargers Vs Mumbai Indians: Will Mumbai bounce back (0)
• Chennai Kings Vs Punjab Kings: Dhoni upset with Chennai fielding (0)
• Dravid among Champions trophy probables (0)
• Cape Town awaits IPL Celebrities (0)

Till the last over of this big chase most cricket pundits would have felt Chennai was out of contention, but then Dhoni had other ideas and came to the party big time , with support from Albie Morkel, scored 45 runs in last 3 overs (2 balls to spare) to take chennai to a comfortable victory in the end.

Earlier Shaun Marsh plundered runs against Chennai’s fast men who couldn’t control the Kings XI batsman in a true pitch. Both Jayawardene and Sangakkara provided able to support to Marsh to take the team to a huge total of 192. Irfan Pathan also provided some pyrotechnics in the end. For Chennai R Ashwin bowled in a totally different pitch compared to his teammates containing and picking up wickets.

Kings XI Punjab innings (20 overs maximum) R B 4s 6s SR
DPMD Jayawardene c Tyagi b Morkel 21 8 2 2 262.50
SE Marsh not out 88 57 8 5 154.38
KC Sangakkara*† b Ashwin 33 24 5 0 137.50
Yuvraj Singh lbw b Raina 1 4 0 0 25.00
IK Pathan not out 44 27 4 1 162.96
Extras (lb 2, w 3) 5

Total (3 wickets; 20 overs) 192 (9.60 runs per over)

Chennai Super Kings innings (target: 193 runs from 20 overs) R B 4s 6s SR
M Vijay st †Sangakkara b Powar 13 11 2 0 118.18
ML Hayden c †Sangakkara b Powar 5 8 1 0 62.50
SK Raina c Goel b Theron 46 27 5 3 170.37
S Badrinath st †Sangakkara b Chawla 53 36 7 2 147.22
MS Dhoni*† not out 54 29 5 2 186.20
JA Morkel not out 14 8 2 0 175.00
Extras (lb 5, w 4, nb 1) 10

Total (4 wickets; 19.4 overs) 195 (9.91 runs per over)

Chennai started badly losing Mathew Hayden and  Vijay soon after, but Dhoni made a wise decision to send Badrinath ahead of himself and the pair of Raina and Badri went about nicely setting up a platform for the final assault. But both Raina and Badri couldnt take it till the end, which needed Dhoni and Morkel to seal the deal.

Related posts

• India’s T20 World Cup Squad for the Caribbean (2)
• India-Pakistan Warmup looked like T20 Finals (0)
• Gambir and Goswami recommmended for Arjuna Awards (0)
• Day 1: India vs Sri Lanka (0)
• Royal Challengers Vs Chennai Super Kings: Kevin Pietersen Vs Dhoni (0)

In the eleventh IPL 3 match, Delhi Daredevils face Chennai Super Kings at Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi. Delhi won the toss and chose to bat first. Though Delhi lost Warner in the beginning, Sehwag played excellent shots making 74 runs from 38 balls with 10 fours nd 3 sixes.

It was Mithun Manhas (32 not out) who helped Delhi when they were losing wickets in frequent intervals.

At the end of 20 overs, Delhi set the target of 186.

Chennai who began their chase lost Parthiv Patel for 6 runs and Badrinath for 14. Hayden and Chennai captain Raina are playing with bat.

Related posts

• India vs Australia: Australia lead by 1-0 (0)
• Champions League T20: Squad (1)
• Case against Dhoni and Harbhajan (0)
• 2nd ODI: India vs Australia: India sets tough target of 355 (0)
• Dhoni is number one batsman (0)

The Indian selectors would meet on March 26 to select 15 Men Squad for the T20 world cup in WestIndies (Caribbean Islands) from April 30 to May 16.

India is in Group C along with South Africa and Qualifiers Afghanistan and are scheduled to play Afghans on May 1 and the South Africans on May 2.The Indians would be playing these 2 group matches at St Lucia and If they are through to the second round(which is highly likely with Afghan as the third team) the next 3 matches would happen at St Lucia and Barbados.

Its weird with ICC Scheduling a consecutive T20 world cup in less than a year after England 2009, though it was meant to be a bi-yearly event and the official verdict was that a ODI world cup is scheduled to happen by 2011 and they are preponing the T20 Event to 2010.

Indian squad should not be with many changes or surprises for the WestIndies as One venue (st Lucia) have a great resemblance with Indian Wickets with not much bounce and aiding spin and the other venue(Barbados) as the one with true bounce aiding fast bowlers,spinners and batsmen alike.

Sehwag,Gambhir,Yuvraj,Raina,Kohli and Yusuf should be automatic selections for the batsmen slot.Zaheer,Ishant,Nehra,Praveen should make up the fast bowlers category while Harbhajan,Ravindra Jadeja should be the first option spinners.With Dhoni as the captain and frontline wicketkeeper,Dinesh Karthik should take up the reserve keeper slot as well as the pure batsman slot if needed.The above mentioned 14 men should be the automatic certainities provided no one picks up any injury during the month long IPL tourney.

The 15th man should be a point of debate as to pick a fast bowler or spinner or a batsman.To drill down further batting options are available in plenty in the above mentioned lot and wont need further strengthening.The bet should be between a spinner and or a fast bowler.The better option would be to go for a fast bowler as we have yusuf,sehwag and yuvraj who would roll their arm more than enough in addition to Harbhajan and Jadeja.Hence the final slot would be a toss up between sreesanth or Tyagi or whomsoever performing better at the IPL 2010.

The Probable Squad:

Virender Sehwag,Gautam Gambhir,Virat Kohli,Suresh Raina,Yuvraj Singh,Yusuf Pathan, MS Dhoni(c),Dinesh Karthik,Ravindra Jadeja,Harbhajan Singh,Zaheer Khan,Ashish Nehra,Ishant Sharma,Praveen Kumar,Sreesanth (or) Tyagi(Tentative).

Related posts

• Chennai Super Kings Vs Knight Riders: Match called off due to Rain (0)
• ICC Annual Awards 2009: Dhoni’s hattrick Awards (0)
• IPL Venue move to U.K. or South Africa (0)
• Day 1: India vs Sri Lanka (0)
• Women’s ICC World T20: England beat New Zealand by 8 wickets (0)

The Charismatic captain of Chennai Super Kings’, Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be out of IPL third season for 10 days because of an elbow injury. In his absence, left-hander Suresh Raina will lead the side.

Dhoni was hit by a rising Shane Bond delivery in Tuesday’s match against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens, after which he looked in pain and needed medical attention.

CSK team manager Russell Radhakrishnan said “Dhoni has been diagnosed with an elbow injury and advised 10 days’ rest.”

Team owner Gurunath Meyappan and director (cricket operation) V B Chandrasekhar said in a statement that Dhoni would return home and in his absence, Parthiv Patel would keep the wickets.

“Dhoni is going back to Ranchi today and will join the squad in Chennai on March 21 (ahead of their home match against Kings XI Punjab). Thankfully there is no fracture it’s just a bad bruise,” they said.

“He will be assessed in Chennai on March 21 and further details will be given after that,” the statement added.

Related posts

• Dhoni wins toss for Chennai, chose to field (0)
• Gilchrist feels younger playing IPL (0)
• Compaq Cup: Finals: India Vs Sri Lanka (0)
• IPL 3 Opening ceremony shifted to Mumbai (0)
• IPL 2 opens in Cape Town and closes in Johannesburg (0)

Kolkata Knight Riders will face off the Chennai Super Kings at the Eden Gardens today in the second match, while Kings XI Punjab have set the target of 204 for the Bangalore Royal Challengers to win.

Kolkata and Chennai have had contrasting starts in this ongoing third IPL T20. Kolkata will be riding on the crest of twin victories when they take on Chennai Super Kings, who went down tamely to Deccan Chargers in their opener on Sunday.

This match will also be a face-off between two of India’s most successful captains. Bold decisions and aggressive body language have been the cornerstone of Sourav Ganguly’s success, while MS Dhoni’s man-management skills have made Team India one of the most formidable sides in world cricket.

Dhoni’s CSK has got George Bailey, the Tasmania skipper with loads of domestic runs under his belt, but it remains to be seen if he can force a berth in the CSK XI straightaway.

Teams

Kolkata Knight Riders: S Ganguly (Capt), A Aaron, A Agarkar, A Dinda, E Ahmid, R Gavaskar, C Gayle, B Hodge, I Abdulla, M Kartik, H Khadiwale, C Langeveldt, b McCullum, A Mathews, A Mendis, C Pathak, C Pujara, W Saha, O Shah, I Sharma, L Shukla, M Tiwary, G Vignesh

Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (Capt), R Ashwin, H Badani, S Badrinath, G Bailey, L Balaji, C Ganapathy, M Gony, M Hayden, M Hussey, S Jakati, A Karthik, J Kemp, A Morkel, M Muralitharan, M Ntini, J Oram, P Patel, T Perera, S Raina, T Thushara, S Tyagi, M Vijay

Related posts

• Day 1: India vs Sri Lanka (0)
• Gambir misses tri-series (0)
• Dada Comes good finally at the Eden Gardens (0)
• Chennai Super Kings Vs Kolkata Knight Riders: Chennai Set 189 Target (0)
• Mumbai Indians Vs Rajasthan Royals: A battle between Sachin and Warne (0)

Men in Blue headed by India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni now has Australian Michael Hussey breathing down his neck for the top slot in the ODI rankings. Teammate Sachin Tendulkar lost his fourth place to West Indies Captain Chris Gayle in the latest ICC chart announced on Monday.

In-form Hussey narrowed the gap with top ranked Dhoni to just eight points after finishing as the second most successful batsman with 198 runs in the series against New Zealand.

Meanwhile Gayle, who was in seventh position at the start of the month, was in sublime form in the recently concluded ODI series against Zimbabwe in which he scored 273 runs, including three half-centuries.

Tendulkar is now at fifth place with a total of 819 points.

In the ODI Team rankings, India has maintained its number two position with 122 points, while Australia still rules the ratings with 133 points.

The second place in the ODI Championship means India wins $75,000 in addition to $175,000 which it won for finishing as the number-one Test side.

In the bowling ratings, India’s spinner Harbhajan Singh continued to be at seventh position with 645 points.

Related posts

• Match 1: West Indies Vs India: Both teams geared up for the start (0)
• Mumbai look to grab semis first spot (0)
• Dhoni is a ‘Successful Captain’ without loss (0)
• Compaq Cup: Match 2: India beat New Zealand by 6 wickets (0)
• Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab: Hodge helps Kolkata set 154 target (0)

India swept the test series against Bangladesh as Zaheer Khan collapsed four wickets off eight balls in the second innings of the Final test at Mirpur today.

Zaheer bagged a career best 7-87 as Bangladesh were bowled out for 312 leaving the visitors with just 2 runs to wrap the series.

India had won the opening test by 113 runs in Chittagong last week.

The second test was completed when the host conceded two byes in the opening over bowled by spinner Shakib Al Hasan.

Zaheer Khan was named Man of the Match and series.

Statistical Highlights:

• Zaheer Khan finished with 10/149 to become the fourth Indian fast bowler to take 10 wickets in an overseas Test match, joining Irfan Pathan who claimed 12/126 against Zimbabwe at Harare in 2005-06 and 11/96 against Bangladesh at Dhaka in 2004-05, Venkatesh Prasad (10/153 against South Africa at Durban in 1996-97) and Chetan Sharma (10/188 against England at Edgbaston in 1986).
• The aforesaid occasion is the 10th of a 10-wicket haul in a Test match for India. Bhagwat Chandrasekhar holds the Indian record for registering the best figures on foreign soil – 12/104 against Australia at Melbourne in 1977-78.
• Zaheer has received his third Player of the series award for taking 15 wickets at an average of 19.53. His previous two such awards were both against England in 2007 and 2008-09.
• Zaheer Khan has received his fourth Man of the Match award – both at Mirpur against Bangladesh.
• Zaheer has captured 164 wickets away from home at an average of 30.93 in 43 Tests while in India, his tally is 71 in 27 Tests at an average of 37.91.
• For winning cause, Zaheer has bagged 121 wickets (ave. 25.64) in 31 Tests, including four instances of five wickets in an innins and one instance of ten wickets in a Test match.
• With eight dismissals (6 catches + 2 stumpings) in the Mirpur Test, MS Dhoni has equalled his previous best wicketkeeping performance. In the Perth Test against Australia in 2007-08, he had effected eight dismissals (7 catches + 1 stumping).
• India have posted their sixth victory in seven Tests against Bangladesh.
• India have won four Tests in a row for the second time – two against Sri Lanka followed by two against Bangladesh.
• Mahendra Singh Dhoni enjoys a winning percenage of 72.72 – eight out of eleven played – the remaining three drawn.
• Zaheer (7/87) has recorded his best figures in an innings, eclipsing the 5/29 against New Zealand at Hamilton in 2002-03. His previous best bowling figures against Bangladesh were 5 for 34 at Mirpur in 2007.
• Zaheer’s second instance of five-wicket in an innings Bangladesh is his ninth overall.
• Zaheer, on foreign soil, has claimed five wickets or more in an innings seven times.
• Shahadat Hossain (40) has registered his career-best score in Tests, obliterating the 33 against West Indies at Kingstown in July 2009.
• Mohammad Ashraful’s runs’ tally of 386 at an average of 42.88 in six Tests is the highest for Bangladesh in Tests against India.
• With Shahadat’s wicket, Harbhajan Singh has become the third Indian bowler to claim 600 international wickets, joining Anil Kumble (956) and Kapil Dev (687).
• Sachin Tendulkar has extended his record by featuring in 55 wins for India. His 18 hundreds resulted in the Indian wins, extending another record.
• India have won five Test series in a row for the first time. They won 2-0 again Australia in 2008-09, 1-0 against England in 2008-09, 1-0 against New Zealand in 2008-09, 2-0 against Sri Lanka in 2009-10 and 2-0 against Bangladesh in 2009-10.

With this victory, India will remain in the top slot. The ICC Top ranked team will face the second placed South Africa in a two match series starting February 6.

Related posts

• Chennai Super Kings vs Deccan Chargers: Another chance for Chennai to prove (0)
• Dhoni is a ‘Successful Captain’ without loss (0)
• Match 20: India Vs England: India out of T20 World Cup (0)
• IPL II Updates: Bangalore and Punjab won at the last (0)
• In pics: Compaq Cup Finals (1)

Moving to the No. 1 place in Test Cricket, the Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni described the status as a dream come true. He also conceded that it would be a tough job to maintain the top slot.

After the team swamped Sri Lanka by an innings in the third Test to win the series 2-0 and become the world’s best Test team, Dhoni said, “It was a dream come true. But what we actually do is to try and play every game well and ratings take care of themselves. It was a constant process for the last 18 months. Whatever Test cricket we have played we have played really well. I think it’s a team effort.”

“It’s a bit of a concern we are playing only two Test matches in the next six months. It will be tough for us to maintain this top position. At the same time we have done something remarkable. We would celebrate the feat rather than thinking about anything else. At the moment we would like to just be with the achievement, which is because of the whole team,” he said.

Dhoni felt the side was blessed in its journey to the top by the fact that more or less the same cricketers played for the last some months without injuries.

Dhoni felt the dressing room atmosphere also contributed a lot to the achievements on the field.

Indian opener Virender Sehwag who broke a number of records on his way to the huge 293 runs in the third test topped the batting charts with 491 runs from three matches with an average of 122.75.

Sehwag was declared man of the match and player of the series.

Rahul Dravid took the overall second place in the batting chart with 433 runs from same three matches with an average of 108.25.

Harbhajan Singh who claimed 13 wickets from three matches but conceded 533 runs. Zaheer Khan took 10 wickets while Sreesanth and Pragyan Ojha made 8 and 9 wickets rom two matches each.

Related posts

• Gary Kirsten blames IPL (0)
• Delhi Daredevils Vs Rajasthan Royals: Rajasthan won by 5 wickets (0)
• Chennai Kings Vs Punjab Kings: Dhoni upset with Chennai fielding (0)
• Crowe criticizes Sehwag (0)
• Bhajji sizzles with Allround skills as Chennai Slumps against Royalss (0)

The first test between India and Sri Lanka began at Ahmedabad today. India won the toss and chose to bat first.

The top order collapsed with Gambhir (1) and Sehwag (16) returning back to the pavillion within 7 overs. Both their wickets were taken by Chanaka Welegedara.

Even Sachin Tendulkar (4) fell for the bowling attack of Welegedara.

The ‘Wall of Indian Team’ Rahul Dravid stood till the end of the first day scoring 177 runs with 26 fours and 1 six. Laxman was bowled by Dammika Prasad and Yuvraj (68) tried helping Dravid but was caught by Dilshan.

Indian skipper completed his 2nd test century with 110 runs when he was bowled by Prasad and caught by Jayawardene.

At the end of day one, India stood at 385/6 with Harbhajan Singh (2 not out) and Rahul Dravid (177 not out) at the crease.

Related posts

• ICC Award Nominations: Dhoni and Dilshan top nominations (0)
• Super Kings emerge DLF IPL 3 Champions (2)
• India-Pakistan Warmup looked like T20 Finals (0)
• Dhoni Heroics take Chennai into Semifinals (0)
• Knight Riders Vs Kings XI Punjab: Weather makes them worry (0)