Chennai Super Kings Vs Mumbai Indians: Mumbai ended their chance of reaching semi-finals
As their semi-final hopes went up in smoke, a flustered Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar today held his batsmen responsible for the debacle as well as the inability to handle crunch situations.
He admitted his team lost the “crunch moments” which effectively came to an end when they were beaten by Chennai Super Kings at St George’s Park on Saturday.
Mumbai suffered a seven-wicket defeat against Chennai Super Kings which ended all their hopes to make the semi-final. With only one match left, against the table toppers Delhi Daredevils, they are stuck in seventh place.
“Throughout the tournament we lost the crunch moments,” said Tendulkar. “In the first match against Chennai everything clicked. But then our match against the Rajasthan Royals was washed out and we then had a break of seven days and we lost our momentum.”
Hayden made 60 not out off 57 balls, pacing his innings superbly as Chennai chased down a moderate Mumbai total of 147-5, winning with five balls to spare.
Chennai entrenched themselves in second place in the eight-team competition.
JP Duminy was mainly responsible for Mumbai reaching their total. The South African left-hander made 62, his fifth half-century of the tournament, off 54 balls.
It was a familiar tale for Mumbai, with Duminy holding the innings together after the team’s stars, Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar, were dismissed.
Jayasuriya threatened to play a major innings, hitting 30 off 17 balls, before top-edging a catch to point. Tendulkar made 11 before he was caught at deep mid-wicket.
Duminy and Abhishek Nayar (33 not out) put on 65 for the fourth wicket before Duminy was run out, backing up too far, in the final over.
Hayden was unusually cautious at the start of Chennai’s innings. At the mid-innings break he had scored only 15 off 28 balls in a total of 56-2.
Chennai looked in trouble when Subramaniam Badrinath was out in the 11th over but Hayden, partnered by Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, lifted his scoring rate as Chennai won comfortably in the end.
Matthew Hayden and MS Dhoni after winning
Hayden reached his fifth half-century of the campaign with a huge six off Harbhajan Singh which sailed out of the ground beyond mid-wicket.
The Super Kings Captain Dhoni wasn’t too satisfied despite the victory that ensured them a semi-final berth.
“We are committing the same mistakes in fielding. We are committing them in each and every game. If we don’t get it right in the knock-out stage, we would be in for trouble,” the India skipper warned.
Tags: Badrinath, Chennai Super Kings Vs Mumbai Indians, Chennai Vs Mumbai, Harbhajan Singh, IPL 2009 News, IPL Scores, IPL Updates, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Mathew Hayden, Matthew Hayden, Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath JayasuriyaRelated posts
Chennai Super Kings Vs Mumbai Indians: Will Chennai take revenge on Mumbai?
Stung by their two-wicket loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore, a wounded Chennai Super Kings would hope to bounce back against Mumbai Indians in a bid to advance towards their semifinal goal in the Indian Premier League on Saturday.
Chennai would be fired up to cash on Mumbai Indians’ weakness of buckling under pressure, especially with every match being crucial for the eight teams.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men are sitting pretty at second spot with 13 points in their kitty from 11 matches while Sachin Tendulkar has a tough task in his hands with mere 11 points from their 12 appearances in the high-profile tournament so far.
Chennai, who lost to Mumbai in the tournament opener, look in a stronger position in tomorrow’s encounter despite its unimpressive fielding but surely boasts of a strong batting line-up which also runs deep with the likes of Australian swashbuckler Mathew Hayden, Suresh Raina, Dhoni, Jacob Oram and S Badrinath in their ranks.
Their bowling department is also studded with world’s highest wicket-taker Muttiah Muralitharan, Lakshmipathy Balaji and novice Shahdab Jakati, who is proving very effective for the side.
Tags: Badrinath, Chennai Super Kings Vs Mumbai Indians, Chennai Vs Mumbai, IPL 2009 News, IPL Scores, IPL Updates, Jacob Oram, L Balaji, Mathew Hayden, MS Dhoni, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shadab JakatiRelated posts
Chennai Super Kings Vs Rajasthan Royals: Badrinath, Hayden lead to Chennai victory
S Badrinath smashed a brilliant unbeaten 59 and shared a crucial 89-run partnership with Mathew Hayden (48) to register Chennai Super Kings’ impressive seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in their Indian Premier League match on Saturday.
Chennai not only recorded their fifth win in a row but also beat the defending champions for the second time in the second edition of the event to go top of the points table. Chasing 141 to win, last year’s finalists, overhauled the target with 10 balls to spare.
Earlier, riding on a disciplined bowling attack, Chennai had restricted Rajasthan to a modest 140 for seven.
The slow nature of the wicket at the De Beers Diamond Oval made the contest between the ball and the bat interesting and set up an exciting finish.
Hayden and Badrinath batted intelligently as stroke-making was quite difficult on the 22-yard-strip here. Badrinath supported Hayden well after losing two early wickets. The Tamil Nadu batsman hit Shane Harwood for one six and three fours in the 16th over to take the pressure off Hayden, who batted with determination from the start.
Hayden departed when he danced down to the wicket off rival skipper Shane Warne in the 17th over but was foxed by the big turn and stumper Naman Ojha uprooted the stumps.
Chennai needed 15 runs from 19 balls at that stage but Badrinath held his nerves and not only completed his third IPL fifty but also steered Chennai to victory. Badrinath hit nine fours and one six in his 41-ball knock while Hayden hit four fours and one six in his 44-ball essay.
Though Chennai did not lose too many wickets, the slow run-rate had made the job tough.
Like Royals, Chennai too struggled to make a quick start as the bowlers, especially spinners were getting purchase from the wicket.
Yusuf Pathan, who started the proceedings for Rajasthan, and Warne bowled some unplayable deliveries.
Siddharth Trivedi drew the first blood for the defending champions by trapping opener M Vijay (10) and then Amit Singh got rid of Suresh Raina (13).
Raina had hit Singh for a six and a four in that over and when the diminutive left-hander went for another big shot in the last ball, the miscued shot landed in the hands of Lee Carseldine at point.
Hayden, careful in his shot selection, did the bulk of the scoring in the first 10 overs and took Chennai to 67 for two during the strategic break.
Earlier, Chennai bowlers used the slow track brilliantly as skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni shuffled them intelligently throughout the Royals innings, ending at 140 for seven.
Graeme Smith (30), Swapnil Asnodkar (26) and Ravindra Jadeja (27) were the main contributors for the defending champions.
Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan (2-22) and Shadab Jakati (2-35) took two wickets apiece, capitalising on a brilliant start provided by their pacers. Naman Ojha, who anchored Royals’ last two wins, looked in hurry and paid the price. He went for a drive and was castled by Albie Morkel in the very first over of the match.
The Chennai pacers bowled a tight line and gave away just 25 runs in the first five overs. Dhoni shuffled his bowlers quickly and by the eighth over, six different bowlers had come into the attack.
Smith and Asnodkar slowly took their side to fifty-run mark, mostly scoring through ones and twos. Muralitharan broke the 53-run partnership when he trapped Asnodkar and sent back Smith when the South African captain dragged his feet out of the crease while attempting a sweep shot and Dhoni stumped him.
Ravindra Jadeja hit Shadab Jakati for consecutive fours and Yusuf Pathan finished off the over with a massive six to begin the fireworks.
However, both the batsmen departed while trying to press the accelerator button. First to go was Jadeja (27 off 19) who slashed one hard off Laxmipati Balaji but Suresh Raina took a brilliant low catch at point to send him back.
Pathan (7) started his walk back after finding Jacob Oram on the edge of the boundary while trying to hit Jakati out of the park. Captain Shane Warne hit an unbeaten 11-ball 21 late in the end to take his side to near 150-run mark.
Tags: Albie Morkel, Badrinath, Chennai Super Kings Vs Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Vs Rajasthan, Graeme Smith, IPL 2009, IPL 2009 News, IPL Scores, IPL Updates, L Balaji, Mathew Hayden, MS Dhoni, Muttiah Muralitharan, Naman Ojha, Ravindra Jadeja, Shadab Jakati, Suresh Raina, Yusuf PathanRelated posts
Chennai Super Kings Vs Rajasthan Royals: Will Chennai improve fielding?
Yet another interesting clash between a consistent batting side and a strategically proficient team is on the cards as table toppers Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals face off in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here Saturday.
There is not much to choose between the two teams as far as their performance in the last couple of matches are concerned. However, the Super Kings seemed to be much more consistent in batting and bowling, but sloppy in fielding. They will be aiming to notch up their fifth win on the trot while the Royals would be plotting revenge after losing to the Chennai side by 38 runs in Pretoria on April 30.
The two teams have same number of points (11), have won five matches each, lost three each and there was no result in one of both team’s matches, but the Super Kings are ahead on net run rate. This shows that the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side has done better in batting. In fact, the Super Kings have crossed 150 in all their matches.
The Royals were also dealt a blow by the injury of all-rounder Shane Watson who has been ruled out of IPL after suffering a mild groin injury during Australia’s one-off Twenty20 International against Pakistan in Dubai. Watson, the player of the tournament in IPL’s first edition, would have solved a lot of problems in the inconsistent Royals middle-order apart from strengthening the pace attack.
The Super Kings batting has been firing all along with retired Australian Mathew Hayden leading the charge and Suresh Raina and Dhoni himself in fine touch. In fact, Hayden (378 runs) and Raina (296) are occupying the first two places among the run-getters in this IPL season at the moment.
In the bowling department, Laxmipathy Balaji has been among the wickets (11). Muttiah Muralidharan (7) and little known Shadab Jakati (9) have also been doing wonders. Dhoni can also rely on part-timer Raina after his immaculate bowling against the Kings XI Punjab Thursday.
One area of concern for the Super Kings is fielding. Dhoni was understandably angry with the shoddy fielding of his side against the Kings XI as his players dropped easy catches of key opposition players. The team management will have to address this issue if they are to put pressure on stroke makers like Graeme Smith, Naman Ojha, Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja. The Royals’ batting can fire anytime with Smith close to his best form after scoring 77 against the Kings XI Punjab in Durban.
Tags: Chennai Super Kings Vs Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Vs Rajasthan, Graeme Smith, IPL 2009, IPL 2009 News, IPL Scores, IPL Updates, Mathew Hayden, MS Dhoni, Muttiah Muralitharan, Naman Ojha, Ravindra Jadeja, Shadab Jakati, Shane Warne, Suresh RainaRelated posts
Chennai Kings Vs Punjab Kings: Dhoni upset with Chennai fielding
Indian and Chennai Super Kings Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was fuming instead of celebrating the narrow win against Kings XI Punjab, as poor catching threatened to cost them the high-scoring IPL thriller on Thursday.
Yuvraj Singh was batting on 19 when he miscued a shot off Muttiah Muralitharan but much to the horror of the Chennai side, Manpreet Gony grassed the catch in the deep.
Yuvraj went on to slam an unbeaten 36-ball 58 and even though it was not enough to see his side through, Dhoni didn’t mince his words in criticising the lapse.
“It was important to win this match but we were just not up to the mark,” an angry Dhoni said after the match.
“We have not stopped dropping catches. There was nothing in the pitch for the spinners and here you spill an opportunity and that too off a batsman like Yuvraj Singh,” Dhoni said.
“I’m happy to be on the winning side but we needed to win the match comfortably. In all the matches we have lost, we dropped catches of set batsmen and that is disappointing,” Dhoni said.
“This is happening again and again. At this level, you cannot afford to drop catches of someone like Yuvraj. We paid the price for that and it became a close match,” Dhoni explained.
His opposite number Yuvraj was also dejected after failing to see his team through in the tense match. “We almost got there but it’s disappointing not to win the match,” a dejected Yuvraj said.
Admitting that bowling remains a problem for his team, Yuvraj said, “Had we been able to restrict them to 160-170, we would have won the match. Our bowling remains a major problem for us, especially bowling at the death. We have to sort out this issue,” he said.
Yuvraj reckoned Thursday’s defeat has left them with no other option but to try and win all their remaining games which is a huge task.
“We have to win 100 per cent matches and that’s not easy,” he said.
Yuvraj was also unhappy that he could not ensure a win despite staying till the end. “I’m not happy with myself either. I should have seen it through. I think I too need to brush up my game,” he said.
Man of the Match Matthew Hayden said he was enjoying his game and felt Dhoni’s presence at the other end helped him.
Tags: Chennai Super Kings Vs Kings XI Punjab, IPL 2009, IPL Scores, IPL Updates, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Manpreet Gony, Mathew Hayden, MS Dhoni, Muttiah Muralitharan, Yuvraj SinghRelated posts
Chennai Super Kings Vs Kings XI Punjab: Clash between Kings
Rejuvenated Chennai Super Kings will eye their fourth consecutive victory against the Kings XI Punjab when the two teams square off in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Thursday.
The 78-run victory against the Deccan Chargers has only added to the growing confidence of the Super Kings as the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led team, who fell at the final hurdle last year, are now comfortably placed on the points table.
In contrast, the Punjab team, who lost their last match to the defending champions Rajasthan Royals, have won four matches from the eight they have played, and they will certainly count upon their batting might to register another win.
Captain Yuvraj Singh, who made a gutsy 37-ball 48 for a losing cause against the Royals, is the mainstay of their batting line-up with Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene and Australian Simon Katich joining him in the middle order.
After young opener Sunny Sohal’s duck in the Royals match, Yuvraj might opt for the previous combination at the beginning of the innings and may himself pair up with their Sri Lankan import Kumar Sangakkara.
Their left-arm pacer Yusuf Abdulla has surely made the batsmen’s life miserable. He is currently holding the purple cap with 14 scalps, but Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth have to lend support to the South African and fire in unison to break the mighty Super Kings batting.
On the other hand, the Chennai team have devastating openers in Matthew Hayden, who has exhibited some superb batting even after retiring from international cricket, and Murali Vijay, who also impressed in the last match.
Besides, much to the cheer of supporters, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has shrugged off his bad patch with a 37-ball 58. His exploits helped the Chennai side romp home in the last match against the Chargers.
The India captain promoted himself up the order in the last match against the Deccan Chargers to spend more time at the crease. It worked wonders for him as he regained his confidence to wreak havoc on the bowlers later on in his innings.
The likes of Suresh Raina, who has played a couple of timely knocks, New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram and South African Albie Morkel will be there in the middle order to provide back up.
While legend Muttiah Muralidharan will keep the batsmen guessing, some timely spells from left-arm tweaker Shadab Jakati may well change the colour of the proceedings.
Their new-ball pair of Morkel and Sudeep Tyagi have not forged a lethal pair, but their ability to pick up some early wickets can leave the opponents in disarray.
Tags: Chennai Super Kings Vs Kings XI Punjab, Chennai Vs Punjab, IPL 2009, IPL 2009 News, IPL Scores, IPL Updates, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Mathew Hayden, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shadab Jakati, Yuvraj, Yuvraj SinghRelated posts
Chennai Super Kings Vs Deccan Chargers: Chennai hopes for hat-trick win
Having lost two matches on the trot, table toppers Deccan Chargers will be looking to get back to winning ways against last year’s runners-up Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League at the Buffalo Park on Monday.
For Super Kings it is just the opposite. They are on a two-match winning streak and will be hoping to make a hat-trick of wins, which was done by Deccan Chargers early on in the league.
Deccan Chargers, despite their last two losses, are a formidable outfit and are one of the favourites to win the title and atone for their dismal performance in the first edition, where they finished at the bottom of the table.
This time under a new captain Adam Gilchrist, Deccan Chargers have forced everyone to stand up and take notice of their performance. Their batting has looked solid with Gilchrist leading the charge. Youngsters like Rohit Sharma and Azhar Bilakhia have also come out with good innings.
The bowlers also have done well, especially fast bowlers Rudra Pratap Singh and Fidel Edwards. Rudra Pratap is the second highest wicket-taker in the IPL while Edwards has checked the run flow. Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha has been one of the most successful spinner in the second IPL and was chief architect in Chargers’ win over Mumbai Indians.
Batting and bowling aside, Deccan Chargers’ fielding has been exceptional. Live-wire fielders like Herschelle Gibbs and Rohit Sharma have really set the benchmarks on the field.
Not doubt it will be a challenge for the Super Kings to put a challenging total on board. Their opening pair has been a problem. While the veteran Matthew Hayden has been in fine nick, he hasn’t got good support from the other end. Parthiv Patel looked out of sorts and his replacement Murali Vijay was a misfit in the Twenty20.
Except Suresh Raina and S Badrinath, big names like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Jacob Oram and Albie Morkel are due for a big score.
But the bowlers have come up with good performances. Saturday night little known Shadab Jakati spun Super Kings to a terrific win over Daredevils. Sudeep Tyagi and the wily Muttiah Muralitharan have been economical.
With both the teams eager for a win, an exciting clash is on the card.
Tags: Adam Gilchrist, Albie Morkel, Badrinath, Chennai Super Kings Vs Deccan Chargers, Fidel Edwards, Hershchelle Gibbs, Hyderabad Deccan Chargers, IPL 2, IPL 2009, IPL 2009 News, IPL Scores, IPL Updates, Jacob Oram, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Mathew Hayden, Muttiah Muralitharan, Rohit Sharma, RP Singh, Suresh RainaRelated posts
Chennai Super Kings Vs Delhi Daredevils: Chennai Super Kings gunning for revenge
Having got its campaign back on track, Delhi Daredevils will be eyeing its fifth victory while a rejuvenated Chennai Super Kings will be out for revenge in Saturday’s Indian Premier League match.
The Delhi team’s winning streak came to a halt after defending champion Rajasthan Royals inflicted a five-wicket mauling on Tuesday, but the Virender Sehwag-led side shrugged it off to thump Deccan Chargers by six wickets on Thursday.
With eight points from five matches, the Delhi outfit is second in the table behind topper Deccan Chargers on net run-rate.
Last year’s runner-up Super Kings, meanwhile, has had a slow start but is slowly picking up steam.
After hammering Royals by 38 runs, it has now climbed from second last to fifth place in the chart with five points from six outings.
And now it would be aiming to improve its standings further while exacting revenge on the Delhi side to which it had gone down by nine runs in the previous meeting.
But that’s easier said than done and though the ominous opening pair of Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir has failed to click so far, one good knock could see things fall in place for the explosive duo.
Tillakaratne Dilshan, whose unbeaten 52 guided Daredevils to victory against Chargers, is in sparkling form with A B de Villiers and Dinesh Karthik adding to the strength of the line-up.
Daredevils has found a dependable new-ball pair in Australian left-arm paceman Dirk Nannes and India discard Ashish Nehra, who are extending good support to their batting colleagues.
Daniel Vettori and Pradeep Sangwan will also add to the worry of Chennai’s batting order, consisting the likes of Matthew Hayden and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
In-form Hayden is the leading run-getter in this IPL with 216 runs and Chennai will depend a lot on his lusty hitting to get even with Daredevils.
After his 98-run heroics against Rajasthan, a lot can be expected from Raina, while S. Badrinath and all-rounder Jacob Oram would also be there to lend support.
Spin legend Muttiah Muralithran has so far failed to live up to expectations and the team also lacks penetration in the opening overs. It will depend on speedster Albie Morkel to cash in on his home advantage and give early jolts to Daredevils.
Tags: Ab De Villiers, Albie Morkel, Ashish Nehra, Badrinath, Chennai Super Kings Vs Delhi Daredevils, Daniel Vettori, Dinesh Karthick, Gautam Gambir, IPL 2, IPL 2009, IPL 2009 News, IPL Scores, IPL South Africa, IPL Updates, Jacob Oram, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Mathew Hayden, Muttiah Muralitharan, Suresh Raina, Virender SehwagRelated posts
Dilshan and Raina led their Teams to success
A half-century by Tillakeratne Dilshan steered the Delhi Daredevils to a six-wicket win over Deccan Chargers at Centurion as they joined them at the top of the Indian Premier League on Thursday.
The previously unbeaten Chargers scored a modest 148 for nine in their 20 overs and Sri Lankan Dilshan, who scored 52 not out off 46 balls, and wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, who made 41 off 30 balls, laid a solid platform for the run-chase.
Their fourth-wicket stand of 79 came from 66 deliveries.
Dilshan hooked West Indian fast bowler Fidel Edwards for six as the Daredevils won with eight balls to spare.
Earlier, Australian Dirk Nannes had hurled down his left-arm fast deliveries to great effect, undermining the Chargers innings from the outset. The 32-year-old dismissed openers Adam Gilchrist (8) and Herschelle Gibbs (0) in his first two overs to deal the Chargers a severe blow.
The Hyderabad side stuttered to 55 for four at the halfway stage, before West Indian Dwayne Smith provided some momentum with a powerful innings of 48 off 28 balls.
But Indian left-armer Ashish Nehra claimed two wickets in the closing overs, and there were two run outs, as the Chargers innings fell away.
Nannes picked up two for 16 in his four overs and was named man-of-the-match.
In the second match of the double-header, the Chennai Super Kings beat champions, the Rajasthan Royals, by 38 runs.
Left-hander Suresh Raina ripped into the Rajasthan bowling in a top-class innings of 98 off 56 balls that carried Chennai to an imposing 164 for five.
Off-spinner Yusuf Pathan struck a quick blow when he bowled Super Kings opener Matthew Hayden for a single with his first delivery and finished with impressive figures of two for 17 in three overs. Munaf Patel took two for 25 and leg-spinner Shane Warne one for 24, but the rest of the Rajasthan bowling was unimpressive.
South African all-rounder Albie Morkel took the new ball for Chennai and claimed two for 16 in his first three overs to immediately restrict the Royals.
Ravindra Jadeja (37) and Pathan (20) took the innings forward with their busy innings, but Lakshmipathy Balaji had the dangerous Pathan caught at long-off to reduce the Royals to 86 for four after 13 overs.
Seamer Balaji then wrapped up the tail to finish with 4-21, the Royals being bowled out in the final over for 126 as Kamran Khan did not come out to bat due to an ankle injury.
The victory moved Chennai into fifth position, three points behind Delhi and the Chargers, while the defending champions slipped to sixth place.
Tags: Adam Gilchrist, Albie Morkel, Ashish Nehra, Badrinath, Bangalore Royal Challengers, Chennai Super Kings Vs Rajasthan Royals, Deccan Chargers Vs Delhi Daredevils, Dinesh Karthick, Dirk Nannes, Dwayne Smith, Fidel Edwards, Hershchelle Gibbs, IPL 2, IPL 2009, IPL 2009 News, IPL Scores, IPL South Africa, IPL Updates, Jacob Oram, L Balaji, Mathew Hayden, Munaf Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Shane Warne, Suresh Raina, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Yusuf Pathan
