IPL Points table

IPL Points table 15 May,2009

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR	For	Against
Delhi Daredevils	14	10	4	0	0	20	+0.311	1978/255.2	1953/262.4
Chennai	14	8	5	0	1	17	+0.951	2086/255.3	1855/257.1
Bangalore	14	8	6	0	0	16	-0.191	1994/276.0	2027/273.2
Deccan Chargers	14	7	7	0	0	14	+0.203	2111/272.4	2097/278.1
Kings XI Punjab	14	7	7	0	0	14	-0.483	1787/251.2	1887/248.3
Rajasthan Royals	14	6	7	0	1	13	-0.352	1688/253.1	1810/257.5
Mumbai Indians	14	5	8	0	1	11	+0.297	1897/256.2	1802/253.4
Kolkata	14	3	10	0	1	7	-0.789	1757/248.5	1867/237.5

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IPL withdraws controversial SMS contest

The IPL has withdrawn a text-messaging competition in which users predicted the outcome of each ball of an over for cash prizes. The game had come in for strong criticism from India's sports minister MS Gill over its similarity with gambling.

"There was no formal complaint about the game but the minister's views were taken into account and the organisers have withdrawn the game," Rajiv Shukla, a member of the IPL's governing council and a senior BCCI official, told PTI.

Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, said he was pleased with the decision. "I had written to the IPL to inquire on that particular game," Lorgat told Cricinfo. "The developers of that game had come to see us some two years back, but we didn't have enough information on how it worked, so I had written to the IPL requesting for some more information. I'm personally pleased that they have recognised that perhaps it's not the right time to introduce something like that. Simply because I didn't know the details of the game, that was the discomfort."

It's understood that the IPL and the game's promoters discontinued the game two days ago and are currently studying the legal aspects surrounding it before a final decision is taken.

Gill had last week denounced the SMS game - though he did not refer to it by name - saying it amounted to gambling. "I see the commercial use of cricket for business gains that is going on. I am concerned at knowledgeable comments from serious followers of cricket about the latest venture of encouraging viewers to make ball by ball predictions of runs scored for economic gain in the shape of cash prizes," he said in a statement. "This is viewed as 'openly encouraging gambling and betting', which official bodies do not resort to, even in countries where betting is legal."

He had reminded the BCCI of its position in the Indian sports spectrum. "The actions of the BCCI are bound to impact the thinking in other sports, some time or the other. We have already had, sometime back, a match-fixing scandal in the game. It seems the ICC had expressed concerns about such possibilities, in the IPL."

Export IPL but think Indian

Now that we have passed the halfway mark of the IPL season, it's time to ask ourselves what additional nuggets of knowledge we have gleaned about the competition. Here are my initial impressions, before I head off to Centurion to watch the Mumbai Indians try and resurrect their faltering campaign.

1. Exporting the IPL was a worthwhile experiment. Even if it doesn't clash with general elections in future, sending it abroad once in four years or so might be a terrific idea. Already, people in South Africa are identifying with certain franchises. And if Lalit Modi and his friends really do aspire to one day see these teams mentioned in the same breath as Barcelona, Manchester United and Liverpool, then building captive followings in overseas markets is a good way to go. Despite intense interest in football and rugby as the seasons draw to a close, the IPL has certainly captured the imagination of sports lovers in southern Africa.

2. Think Indian. There's only one team adrift at the foot of the table, and that's the one with the poorest Indian contingent. John Buchanan's whine about being able to play only four foreign players should be dismissed with the contempt it deserves. Instead of spending silly money on Mashrafe Mortaza, still to get a game, perhaps the Knight Riders should have spent more energy on getting Manoj Tiwary or Shreevats Goswami back "home". Look at the teams at the top. Delhi have Pradeep Sangwan, Rajasthan have Abhishek Raut, Amit Singh and Kamran Khan, while Chennai have the outstanding Shadab Jakati. Invest in Indian talent or perish.

3. Money can't buy you ... well, not success on a cricket pitch anyway. Of the big-money signings from the Goa auction, only JP Duminy and Ravi Bopara have gone some way towards justifying the outlay. Paul Collingwood may as well cover a certain Dire Straits song.

4. Show no respect for reputations. Delhi have not been afraid to bench Glenn McGrath or drop Daniel Vettori. The Deccan Chargers dropped VVS Laxman. Chennai have yet to play Makhaya Ntini. Horses for courses is the way to go, and sometimes thoroughbreds will miss out.

5. It's not a DLF-er, it's a sixer, stoopid. Any television exec, or marketing manager who seriously thinks that endless repetition of such inanities will promote a brand has probably been smoking too much dagga.

6. Just how do they pick Miss Bollywood or whatever the poor girls are called? Is there a casting couch tucked away somewhere? Suppose the prettiest girl in the crowd has no interest in acting with Shah Rukh Khan? What then?

7.The cheerleaders are great, but someone tell the cameramen that pelvic examinations are best left to qualified folk.

8. Can the BCCI please take a tour of the grounds and learn what stadiums SHOULD be like? What's the point of all that money when most of your venues are not fit for man, fan or beast?

9. The stadiums are not sold out. How could they be on weekdays in the middle of a recession? So why pretend, and make the commentators look even more foolish than they already do?

10. The smoked salmon, biltong and wine are very good reasons to contemplate settling down in the southern cape.

Half-way report card of ipl teams

Chennai Super Kings

Matthew Hayden muscles the ball, Chennai Super Kings v Deccan Chargers, IPL, 16th match, Durban, April 27, 2009
Retirement seems to have worked wonders for Matthew Hayden, who has 289 runs at 41.28 for the Chennai Super Kings © AFP

Things have begun to perk up after a slow start. Their bowlers were struggling and, by the end of the fifth game, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni decided it was time for experiments. The bowling line-up started to change: Sudeep Tyagi and Albie Morkel opened and Shadab Jakati, the left-arm spinner, was drafted in. L Balaji was given the task to bowl with the old ball while Joginder Sharma and Manpreet Gony were dropped. And in the batting, M Vijay was drafted in for Parthiv Patel. The changes worked and Chennai won their next three games to storm to the top of the table.

Defining moment: It came after the loss to Deccan Chargers in Durban. "We are running out of ideas, we don't know where to bowl and what to bowl," was Dhoni's frank assessment. "This is our best bowling line-up in paper. But it's not working and now it's time to change and experiment."

Best player: Matthew Hayden, with 289 runs at 41.28.

Biggest let-down: Andrew Flintoff. He struggled with the bat and the ball and Chennai's form actually started to turn around after his exit.

Ins and outs: Flintoff left for England within a week of the tournament after suffering a knee injury. He was anyway slated to leave on May 1 for the West Indies series.

Kings XI Punjab

The most disciplined team. They were badly hit by injuries but have gelled as a unit to keep turning in regular wins. Only Yuvraj Singh has scored over 200 runs but four others have scored more than 100, the most in any side. The bowling looked weak on paper but Irfan Pathan has starred with the ball, often taking early wickets to unsettle the opposition. The spinners Piyush Chawla and Ramesh Powar have done well and Yusuf Abdulla too has turned in a couple of good cameos. And Yuvraj, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, along with the coach Tom Moody, have led the side well.

Defining moment: When the team sat together after the first two losses and charted the way forward. They then won a close game against Bangalore - with Ravi Bopara and Yuvraj taking them home - which set off their revival.

Best player: Irfan Pathan with ten wickets and Yusuf Abdullah with 14. They have worked brilliantly as a pair. Irfan has often struck crucial blows with the new ball and Yusuf has kept his nerve in the end overs.

Biggest let-down: No one actually. If anything, they would like Yuvraj to be more consistent. He is their main power player but has accumulated only 208 runs at 29.71.

Ins and outs: Bopara, the only Englishman to perform in the IPL, has left but Brett Lee, James Hopes and Sreesanth will be more than handy additions.

Delhi Daredevils

They have lived up to their pre-tournament billing of being favourites and have the best win-loss ratio, winning five of their seven games. And the best news is that their stars are yet to fire. Only Tillakaratne Dilshan has accumulated more than 200 runs and only Ashish Nehra has taken ten wickets but they have kept winning.

Defining moment: No single moment but they have won all the tight games they've been involved in and each time someone has put his hand up - whether it's Nehra with the ball or Dilshan with the bat.

Best player: Dilshan. One of the more under-rated players on the international circuit has expertly steered the middle-order out of several mini-crises. Last year, Delhi suffered because of middle-order problems and this time they were really tested by the failure of the top order but Dilshan has stood up to the challenge.

Biggest let-down: The hyped opening pair of Virender Sehwag (avg of 21.75) and Gautam Gambhir (avg of 28.00)

Ins and outs: Paul Collingwood and Owais Shah have left for the home series against West Indies but that won't make much of a difference because they never got to play a game. The biggest news so far is that Glenn McGrath hasn't got a game either.

Deccan Chargers

Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs added 63 in quick time, Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians, IPL, 12th Match, Durban, April 25, 2009
Is the Deccan Chargers batting too dependent on Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs? © AFP

They proved to be the tournament's dark horses, winning their first four games. But they lost the next three, possibly because their batting is top-heavy, depending too much on Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs.

Defining moment: Their fifth game. It was a close finish against Delhi with Fidel Edwards, their strike bowler, going up against Dilshan. As the match hurtled towards its climax, Edwards lost his cool, argued with the umpires over wide calls, got into a sledging game with Dilshan and generally lost the plot. Dilshan plundered 17 runs in the 19th over, bowled by Edwards, to win the game. It was Deccan's first loss and they are yet to win after that.

Best player: RP Singh with 13 wickets at 13.23. He has bowled with the new ball but has really surprised with his accurate death bowling.

Biggest let-down: VVS Laxman with 19 runs at 3.80. He has been repeatedly getting out to soft dismissals and is going through a horror run.

Ins and outs: Edwards has left after a fine tournament. Andrew Symonds is expected to make an impact when he joins the team after their ninth game.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

It's been a fascinating ride for Bangalore. They upset the defending champions in the first game but returned to last year's form for the next few. Rare occurrences like five first-ball dismissals and two second-ball dismissals left the team wondering what had hit them. However, they kept working hard in practice and the coach was willing to try different combinations. The appointment of Anil Kumble as captain after Kevin Pietersen's departure seems to have changed the team's fortunes; they have won three in a row now to move to fifth in the points table.

Defining moment: Mark Boucher held his nerve to win a close game against Kolkata Knight Riders to fetch Bangalore their second win. It was a game that should have been won without much sweat but Bangalore threatened to fold under pressure. Lucikly for them, their opponents were simply worse than they were and that win provided the momentum. Kumble became captain in the next game and they have gone from strength to strength.

Best player: Kumble, with ten wickets at an economy rate of 5.82. The man refuses to fade away without a fight. And then there's his captaincy.

Big let-down: Pietersen and Jesse Ryder. Pietersen averaged around 15 and Ryder 8. The two biggest picks of the year were expected to be part of the team's revival but they have failed.

Ins and outs: A struggling Pietersen left and the in-form Rahul Dravid, who had returned to India mid-tournament for the birth of his second child, has rejoined the squad. Nathan Bracken will bolster their bowling if he joins them this week.

Mumbai Indians

Lasith Malinga gets a high-five from Zaheer Khan after dismissing Wilkin Mota, Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians, IPL, 20th match, Durban, April 29, 2009
Lasith Malinga is using the IPL brilliantly to show his skills after a long injury lay-off © Associated Press

The Tendulkar syndrome has hit the team. They are yet to get out of the shadow of Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya and have lost quite a few close games. Tendulkar has scored over 200 runs but when he has failed, so has the team.

Defining moment: It will come the day they win a game without a contribution from the two big stars. They have talent in JP Duminy, Dwayne Bravo, Abhishek Nayar and Shikhar Dhawan, who have the potential to turn things around. But will they?

Best player: Lasith Malinga with 11 wickets at a staggering economy rate of 4.83. He is back from a long injury lay-off and is using the IPL brilliantly to show his skills. The slinger has rarely been collared.

Biggest let-down: Harbhajan Singh. Just three wickets so far.

Ins and outs: No disruptions for them.

Rajasthan Royals

The top-order batting had been the chief worry but Graeme Smith's return to form and Naman Ojha's successful stint as opener would have eased concerns. Yusuf Pathan has lorded around the park and the entry of Lee Carseldine at the top has added further stability to the top order. They won three tight games, a sign that the captain Shane Warne is still weaving his magic with his band of young men.

Defining moment: The Super Over game against Kolkata. It highlighted two of their biggest strengths - Warne as captain and Pathan the batsman. Like Delhi, they have rarely lost a close game. But unlike Delhi, they have lost easily in a few games.

Best player: Yusuf Pathan with 181 runs at a strike rate of 161.60. He has played a hand in all their wins.

Biggest let-down: Graeme Smith who, till his revival against Punjab on Tuesday, had 65 runs at an average of 13.

Ins and outs: Kamran Khan has been asked to undergo rehab for his action but he was already doubtful with a knee injury. Shane Watson will bolster their batting when he joins them this week.

Kumar Sangakkara is ecstatic after latching on to an edge from Brendon McCullum, Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL, 6th game, Durban, April 21, 2009
Losing front: Kolkata Knight Riders captain Brendon McCullum has just 85 runs at 10.62 © AFP

Kolkata Knight Riders

A team drowned by controversies - the multiple-captaincy theory, an under-pressure coach, a struggling captain and even a fake blogger - have been hit even worse by poor on-field performances. There hasn't been a single moment that sticks in the mind, nor a passage of play that has convinced observers that they are turning the tide.

Defining moment: With two runs required from two balls against Rajasthan, Sourav Ganguly, who had guided the chase brilliantly, fell going for a big shot. Had they won that, they might have found the momentum they were desperately seeking.

Ins and outs: Chris Gayle has left for England and Sourabh Sarkar has come in for the injured Harmeet Singh. David Hussey's all-round skills will be available after Australia's Twenty20 game against Pakistan in the UAE this week.

Best player: Brad Hodge, who with 240 runs at 40 is third on the run-scorers' list. He hasn't found much support from the other batsmen, though.

Biggest let-down: Brendon McCullum has just 85 runs at 10.62. He said he'd quit if the team didn't make semi-finals. While he may have intended it positively, he could be seen as a weak, emotional captain reacting to severe pressure.

Tactical time-outs could be reduced - Modi

Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, has said there is a possibility that the tactical time-out in the middle of each team's innings could be changed from one interval of seven and a half minutes to two breaks of two and a half minutes each for the semi-finals and final of the second season of the IPL.

"It's not frozen yet but we are looking at two aspects. There will be two two-and-a-half-minutes break per innings, so the break in all during an innings will be of five minutes," Modi told NDTV. "The first two-and-a-half-minute break will be just after the Powerplay [6 overs] and the second to be taken by the fielding side at any time.

"It happens in every sport, there is a strategy break and everything. But 7.5 minutes may look like a bit longer, so we are seeing how we can reduce it down to five minutes" However, he said that the idea was yet to be ratified by the tournament's technical committee.

The tactical time-out has played a part in shifting the momentum in the Twenty20 games and has usually benefited the fielding team with the batting side losing wickets in the overs immediately after the break. It was criticised by Sachin Tendulkar, the Mumbai Indians captain who felt that the breaks were "hampering the momentum of a team", Kings XI Punjab coach Tom Moody and VB Chandrasekhar, Chennai Super Kings' head of cricket operations. Other experts were also not certain of how much value it added to the game.

Kolkata Knight Riders coach John Buchanan had called for the number of overseas players in a XI to be increased from four but Modi said it was not going to happen. "This is the Indian Premier League," he told the Indian Express. "The focus is on getting local talent and I have shoved away the idea of increasing the number of foreigners."

Kamran Khan reported for suspect action

Kamran Khan, the Rajasthan Royals left-arm seamer, has been reported for a suspect action. Rudi Koertzen and Gary Baxter, the on-field umpires for the IPL game between Rajasthan and Chennai Super Kings at Centurion on April 30, said they had concerns over Kamran, 18, and hence requested the authorities to review his action.

The two on-field umpires and TV umpire Amish Saheba reviewed footage of the game and believed Kamran's action needed further scrutiny. The matter has now been referred to the Rajasthan management and the IPL's technical committee.

"The matter has now been referred to the team management of the Rajasthan Royals and the IPL's technical committee as per the laws of cricket that govern our game," Lalit Modi, chairman and commissioner of the IPL, said. "I now await the report from the technical committee and will then decide on the future course of action."

Kamran can continue to play until he is proven guilty of an illegal action. In five IPL games he has taken six wickets at 20.66, limping off the field during his last over against Chennai on Thursday.

Shane Warne, the Rajasthan captain, said the team would back Kamran wholly. "Kamran has made a big impact in this IPL. He is a young man with a great work ethic and a huge appetite to learn," said Warne. "With these attributes in mind, we are confident that this issue will be resolved very quickly. However, our first priority is a swift recovery from his knee injury from the last game. We currently await a full medical report after his MRI scan today."

Kamran, from Azamgarh in the north-Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, was spotted by Rajasthan team director Darren Berry at a talent scouting camp earlier this year. He impressed Warne instantly after bowling one over against the Cape Cobras in a warm-up game played a couple of days before the IPL kicked off. He was the bowler chosen by Warne to bowl the decisive 'super over' in the win against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Cricket-Sri Lankans Sangakkara and Dilshan set up IPL wins

CAPE TOWN, April 26 (Reuters) - Sri Lankans Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara scored half-centuries to guide the Delhi Daredevils and King's XI Punjab to comfortable wins on day nine of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday.

Dilshan compiled an unbeaten 67 to anchor the Daredevils to a target of 150 against the under-achieving Bangalore Royal Challengers who limped to 149 for seven before slumping to their fourth consecutive defeat.

England's Kevin Pietersen top-scored with 37 for the Bangalore franchise before being bowled by Daniel Vettori and South Africa wicketkeeper Mark Boucher belted 36 from 28 balls at the end of the innings.

But Dilshan negotiated the inevitable wobbles in the run chase to push the tournament favourite Daredevils over the line with four balls to spare in Port Elizabeth.

At Newlands in Cape Town the King's XI slumped to 48 for four in the face of disciplined bowling from 18-year-old left armer Kamran Khan and experienced seamer Munaf Patel.

But Sangakkara rebuilt the innings during a fifth-wicket stand of 75 with Indian Irfan Pathan.

A final total of 139 for six may have looked below par but Newlands lived up to its reputation as a bowlers' paradise under floodlights and Shane Warne's team crashed to 42 for six.

The great Australian leg-spinner made 34 not out in a stand of 60 with Ravindra Jadeja (37) to give the innings a semblance of respectability without ever threatening a victory.

Sangakkara compiled a steady 60 from 51 balls in tricky batting conditions and Pathan contributed 39 from 33 deliveries with two fours and two sixes.

Shahrukh in trouble for smoking at the IPL

Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan's act of smoking during an Indian Premier League match hasn't gone down too well with the anti-smoking lobby. The National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE) was upset with the broadcasters of the tournament which showed the footage of King Khan smoKing during the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and the Kings XI Punjab.

NOTE issued a statement that the official broadcasters should ensure that footage of smoking especially by celebrities should not be broadcast. They argued that such visuals increases the chances of youngsters picKing up the habit in trying to imitate their Heroes. NOTE has requested the even organisers to make no smoKing announcements at the venues during the matches.

NOTE added that although smoking was not banned in public places in South Africa it was lobbying with the South African National Council Against Smoking to bring a blanket ban on smoking in public places. NOTE's General Secretary Shekhar Salkar said in absence of a law they had requested Shahrukh and other celebrities to quit smoKing for their well being.

This is not the first time that King Khan is in trouble due to his smoking habit. In October 2007 he was served with a legal notice by the same NGO for smoKing during the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit and an ODI match between India and Australia in Mumbai. Well Shahrukh still seems to be in no mood to Kick the butt.

Spin is the new mantra for Twenty20

The emergence of spin as a match-turner in this IPL has surprised some of the best spinners in world cricket today but South African experts have seen it coming and say that spin will play a major role in Twenty20 cricket, and not just the Indian league.

Consider this: 30 wickets have fallen to spin in 10 games so far, with Anil Kumble, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, and Daniel Vettori all turning in impressive performances. Even a part-timer like Kevin Pietersen has taken three wickets with his offspin.

Harbhajan Singh and Murali have already revised their opinion about the role of spinners in the IPL, and Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, says their success has only strengthened his belief that slow bowlers will be influential in Twenty20 cricket. It is a view shared by Pat Symcox, the former South Africa offspinner, who says the weather conditions this time of the year will assist spinners.

"I think spin plays a major role in Twenty20 cricket, and not just the IPL," Arthur told Cricinfo. "Looking at the World Twenty20 in June, we have already decided to cover all our options in pace and spin in our blueprint. It's obvious to us now that it's a good bowling unit that wins you a Twenty20 game, and not just the batsmen. You need to have a bowling unit that has the ability to take wickets and that is what will finally determine the result of a Twenty20 game."

Symcox says the pitch and weather conditions in South Africa will be a deciding factor in the tournament. "It's basically got to do with this time of the year in South Africa with the winter setting in," Symcox told Cricinfo. "The pitches start to wear a bit and the grass becomes a lot drier. There is much better grip for the spinners. Besides, there is always a little bit of extra bounce in South Africa, when compared to India where the IPL was held last year. Add that bounce to a little bit of turn and spinners become a very useful option."

Kumble has grabbed six wickets so far, followed by Vettori with five, Warne with four, and Murali and Ojha with three each. In fact, Kumble, who retired from international cricket last year, turned in the most economical five-wicket haul in Twenty20s against Rajasthan Royals last weekend, claiming incredible figures of 3.1-1-5-5. All these spinners have played crucial roles for their IPL teams, claiming the scalps of some of the best in the business like Pietersen, Matthew Hayden, MS Dhoni, Chris Gayle and Adam Gilchrist.

"We realised this during the recent one-day series here against Australia, and that's why we worked our bowling strategy around Paul Harris and Roelof van der Merwe (both left-arm spinners)," Arthur said. "The result was there for all to see." South Africa won the one-dayers 3-2 at home earlier this month.

Harbhajan, who turned Mumbai Indians' opening game against Chennai Super Kings with a spell of 3-0-15-1 including the key wicket of Hayden, says the role of spinners in Twenty20 has taken "a 360 degree turn". Harbhajan is sure that the spin will play a "pivotal role in this new 'avatar' of cricket". He points to Kumble's five-wicket spell on the opening day and writes in his blog: "The five-wicket haul, shelling out just five runs for exchange, is no joke in any format, forget about T20."

Murali, who watched Harbhajan bowl from the Chennai dugout, wrote in his blog that the Indian offspinner's spell "was the first sign that spin could be a factor in the tournament". "The fact that we are playing on tired squares at the end of the season may also be having an impact," Murali wrote. "Whatever the reason, as a spinner, I am obviously delighted."

Symcox says the trend is "fantastic" not just for this IPL but for the Twenty20 format. "Youngsters will now be encouraged to bowl the slower ones," he said. "They will realise that Twenty20 cricket is not just about running in hard. Now I feel sorry for the medium-pacer in Twenty20 cricket, guys who bowl around the 120-kmph mark. The faster guys always have a chance and now the spinners are also doing well, it's the medium-pacer who has to adapt now."

4th ODI: Pakistan v Australia at Dubai

Pre-tournament favourites square off

Here's hoping the rain stays away from Durban because the first of two matches on Thursday features teams that are favourites to make the semi-finals based on early form. Delhi Daredevils, tipped to go all the way even before the IPL started, began strongly by beating Kings XI Punjab by ten wickets. Chennai Super Kings shrugged off an indifferent outing against Mumbai Indians and scored a 92-run victory against Bangalore Royal Challengers.

What makes this game potentially terrific is the contest between Delhi's power-packed batting line and Chennai's high-quality bowling attack. Virender Sehwag launched a merciless assault on Punjab's bowlers during their short chase and the other weapons in Delhi's arsenal - Gautam Gambhir, AB de Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan - were not even needed. However, Chennai possess the bowlers to test such a batting line-up. In Andrew Flintoff and Muttiah Muralitharan, they have two wicket-taking bowlers who are unlikely to concede too many runs. Their support cast of Albie Morkel, Manpreet Gony and L Balaji isn't easy pickings either.

If one was pressed to pick a favourite from tomorrow's encounter, it might just be Chennai. They too possess a hard-hitting batting line-up, with powerful batsmen sprinkled all the way through the batting order, and the likes of Matthew Hayden, MS Dhoni, Andrew Flintoff, Albie Morkel and Suresh Raina will look to take advantage of Delhi's inexperienced bowling attack. Delhi chose not to play Glenn McGrath in their opening game and the younger fast bowlers struggled to contain Punjab's openers until Daniel Vettori came into the picture.

Player form guide

Chennai: Hayden is currently the highest runscorer in the league, with 109 runs at a strike-rate of nearly 156 in two games. He wrecked Bangalore by scoring 65 off 35 balls but even that effort wasn't enough to clinch the Player-of-the-Match award. That honour went to Murali, who knocked Bangalore out with a spell off 3 for 11 in four overs.

Delhi: Vettori single-handedly changed the course of the match against Punjab. He struck with his first ball and finished with figures of 3 for 15. Sehwag continued the form he showed in New Zealand, hitting his first ball of the tournament for six and ended with an unbeaten 38 off 16 balls.

Watch out for

Albie Morkel: He didn't play the first game because his kit was lost in transit and came into bat only in the final over against Bangalore. His hitting talent hasn't been harnessed by Chennai as yet and many feel his abilities are being wasted coming in so late in the innings.

Daniel Vettori: He may be the key to containing Chennai's powerhouses. Flintoff and Morkel are far more comfortable freeing their arms against the faster bowlers and Sehwag might have to think about when to use the four overs from his most valuable bowler.

Friendly fire

Team-mates from two countries will square off against each other with Dilshan facing Murali and de Villiers trying to get the better of Morkel. Incidentally, Morkel said he wouldn't be sharing too many secrets about his South African team-mates on instructions from the board.

Team news

Delhi may be tempted to bring in Australians David Warner and Glenn McGrath but otherwise there is no need for any changes. If Warner plays, Tillakaratne Dilshan would make way from the middle order and Gautam Gambhir would slip down to No. 3. Given they are playing a form Chennai, Delhi may opt for the experience of McGrath. Dirk Nannes would then warm the bench.

Delhi: (probable) 1 Virender Sehwag (capt), 2 David Warner, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 Manoj Tiwary, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Daniel Vettori, 9 Yo Mahesh, 10 Avishkar Salvi, 10 Pradeep Sangwan, 11 Glenn McGrath.

There are no foreseeable changes here.

Chennai: (probable) 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Parthiv Patel, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 5 Andrew Flintoff, 6 Albie Morkel, 7 S Badrinath, 8 Joginder Sharma, 9 L Balaji, 10 Manpreet Gony, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.

Head-to-head record

Chennai and Delhi shared one win apiece in the two matches they played against each other in the first edition of the IPL. Delhi won by four wickets in Chennai with Sehwag and Gambhir sharing a century opening stand. Chennai beat Delhi by four wickets at the Kotla , winning a thriller off the final ball.

Kolkata win by 11 runs on D/L method

Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL, Durban

Gayle helps Kolkata home in rain-hit game

The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga

April 22, 2009

Kolkata Knight Riders 79 for 1 (Gayle 44*, McCullum 21) beat Kings XI Punjab 158 for 6 (Yuvraj 38, Pathan 32, Ganguly 2-24) by 11 runs by D/L method
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Sourav Ganguly took two wickets in his first over, Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL, 6th game, Durban, April 21, 2009
Sourav Ganguly took two wickets in three balls in his first over to set Punjab back © Getty Images

Sourav Ganguly made yet another comeback, this time with the ball, to help Kolkata Knight Riders keep Kings XI Punjab down to 158 for 6. Thereafter, Chris Gayle made the most of two dropped chances to dishearten Punjab and take Kolkata 11 ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis par-score when heavy rain ended the match in the 10th over.

Ganguly had been quiet in the lead-up to this tournament; he had lost his captaincy and looked out of sorts in scoring 1 in 12 balls against Deccan Chargers. Today, though, he made his statement with the ball, taking two wickets in his first over and pulling Punjab back from a solid-yet-unspectacular start.

When Ganguly came on to bowl, Irfan Pathan, promoted to No. 3, had just taken Ishant Sharma for 14 in his third over, and Punjab had moved along to 46 for 1 at the end of six overs. Thirty-two of those had come from Irfan's bat, in 17 deliveries.

And then Ganguly struck, fortuitously at first. Irfan went for a six to the deep midwicket area and was caught smartly by Murali Kartik at the boundary. Two balls later, Ganguly got Ravi Bopara, the opener, to edge to the new captain, Brendon McCullum. Both men were elated, the captain with his bowling change, the bowler having proved a point, and both ran in different directions to celebrate and eventually hugged each other.

Punjab moved from 46 for 1 in six to 67 for 3 in ten overs before a rain interruption. Following that, Punjab enjoyed two of the best overs of their innings. Yuvraj Singh hit a six off Ganguly to take 14 off his third over. Yet, Ganguly ended with figures of 24 for 2 off his four. And just after the rain break, in perhaps a poor tactical move, McCullum brought Chris Gayle on, who had trouble gripping the wet ball and bowled three wides in his 14-run over.

Yuvraj couldn't quite manage a reprise of his six sixes in an over at the same venue, during the inaugural ICC World Twenty20. And once he top-edged Moises Henriques in the 16th over, falling for 38 off 28, caught by Yashpal, Punjab were always struggling.

Thirty-six came off 26 balls after Yuvraj's fall, thanks largely to Mahela Jayawardene, who scored 31 in 19, and took the last over, bowled by Ashok Dinda, for 16, the biggest over of the innings.

But the hitting from Irfan, Yuvraj and Jayawardene paled in comparison with Gayle's. He played the first two overs quietly, and enjoyed a dropped sitter by Karan Goel at short midwicket off Yusuf Abdulla. It was a forgettable day for Goel, who had earlier scored a seven-ball duck.

Once Gayle carved Irfan over cover-point in the third over of the innings, the floodgates opened. From 4 off 8 balls, he reached 31 off 15 through a calculated assault on the left-arm opening bowlers. And then, in the fifth over of the innings, the game breaker came. Irfan was spanked straight and pulled square off the first two balls, and then Gayle showed him the greens, teeing off to over wide long-on.

By the time Gayle was dropped again, by Kumar Sangakkara, off a Piyush Chawla googly, he had taken the match out of Punjab's reach as the dark clouds gathered.

For the second game in succession, Punjab have been curtailed by rain, but this time they succumbed to Ganguly and Gayle, as opposed to their first match, when Delhi's chase was reduced to a six-over hit-out.

Trouble in KKR camp: Shah Rukh avoids Ganguly in team meeting

CAPE TOWN: "Hey, you’re from the Indian media?" asked a young lady at The Newlands, wearing that black and gold Knight Riders T-shirt. Yes ma’am,
one replied. "Shah Rukh Khan!" was the yelling that followed. "You can surely help us meet Shah Rukh," she and quite a few of others along with her demanded. Sorry, can’t help you there.

Blog: Golden oldies - 11 stars aged over 35

Well, Shah Rukh Khan is a busy man. On Sunday though, he was tied up a little more than usual after Knight Riders suffered a heavy defeat against Team Hyderabad in their first match here. Not that journalists have that easy access to the superstar so as to introduce him to the ladies, but on Sunday, even the thought of going and meeting him was banished.

The moment KKR finished their game and rushed back to the hotel, Khan was already there. And by the time they finished with their dinner (reluctantly), he was already keen to meet them. He spoke to quite a few. While none agreed to disclose the contents of the conversation, it was visible that the one player who Khan didn’t talk to was Sourav Ganguly.

What’s brewing? A couple of players heading back to their rooms hardly opened their mouths. "The media should know, right?" they said.

The one issue that tore into a bagful of controversies in the Knight Riders’ camp even before the IPL began was John Buchanan’s multiple captain theory. Was that the reason again or were there old wounds that haven’t healed? Or was it just Sunday’s loss? "We just had a bad day out there. The batting didn’t click. We’ll be looking to get better in the next game," skipper Brendon McCullum said post match. He didn’t want to comment on anything related to the multiple captain issue or the Ganguly-Buchanan or Ganguly-Khan relationship.

McCullum has been going around telling the media here about how KKR captaincy hasn’t become a matter of ego. "It’s quite a healthy atmosphere in there," he’s been quoted as saying. But that didn’t allow the side to come up with an impressive performance. They were bowled out for just 101 runs in 19.4 overs.

Even if McCullum’s word is to be taken, Sunday’s defeat won’t help the rumours die. Instead, fresh ones like "Sourav may not play the next game" or "Khan has given the players a sermon" and "Players are saying Buchanan committed a blunder by sending Aakash Chopra at No. 5" were doing the rounds.

For the record, it was a loss by eight wickets, but more than that, it was salt on a wound that’s fresher than ever. The ladies wanting SRK’s autograph will have to wait.

Vettori is best spinner present in the world: Sehwag

Cape Town, Apr 20 (PTI) Delhi Daredevils skipper Virender Sehwag has put Daniel Vettori in the same league as legendary spinners Shane Warne and Anil Kumble and said the New Zealand skipper is the best tweaker in the world at present.
Sehwag lavished praise on his Daredevils team-mate Vettori for his magical spell last night in the match against Kings XI Punjab which the Delhi outfit won comprehensively by 10 wickets in Duckworth Lewis method.

"At the moment Daniel (Vettori) is the best spinner in the world," Sehwag said.

Vettori was adjudged man-of-the for his match figures of three wickets for 15 runs and it was this spell that shifted the momentum in the Daredevils favour.

"The Kings XI Punjab were going great guns when I asked Danny (Daniel Vettori) to bowl and thanks to him we were successful in getting the crucial wickets," Sehwag said, adding the left-arm spinner has the ability to bowl well on any all sort of wickets. PTI

IPL parade Shah Rukh Khan April 16 2009 Cape Town South Africa

Dhoni and Tendulkar lead starcast in opener (IPL CSK vs MUM)

On last year's form, Chennai Super Kings will be favoured to make a winning start to their IPL campaign on Saturday, but Mumbai Indians have a couple of key factors going in their favour which could well make all the difference. Sachin Tendulkar, who missed the first part of the tournament last year, is fit and available from the start this time. Shaun Pollock will be missed with the ball, but his presence as mentor and Jonty Rhodes' as fielding coach could be key, especially since both will be familiar with South African conditions.

The big addition in the Chennai ranks is Andrew Flintoff, who will be available for the first part of the tournament. His bowling, especially, could be hugely vital for a team which struggled occasionally in that area last year. MS Dhoni has gained plenty more leadership experience since last June, and he'll also have the vast tactical knowledge of Stephen Fleming, the coach, to tap into.

Unlike some of the other line-ups, both sides have been pretty low-key so far, keeping the frills out and concentrating on the cricket. Chennai arrived early in South Africa to acclimatise to the conditions, while Mumbai have been in the news mainly for the announcement of their South African coaches. For a tournament which has been in the news for so many non-cricketing reasons, it can't be a bad thing that it kicks off with teams high on talent but low on controversy.

Player form guide

Chennai: Suresh Raina sparkled in New Zealand, scoring an unbeaten 61 in a Twenty20 game and consistently getting the runs in the ODIs too. Dhoni has been consistent too, while Flintoff is coming off a superb matchwinning five-for in the last ODI against West Indies.

Mumbai: Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh were outstanding with the ball in New Zealand, while Tendulkar was prolific in the Tests and the ODIs. JP Duminy has had a quiet series against Australia, though he managed quick cameos in the third and fourth ODIs.

In from the cold

Matthew Hayden last played an international game in early January this year, and it remains to be seen if he can replicate the form he showed for Chennai last year, when he hammered 189 runs at an average of 63 and a strike rate of 144.

Watch out for

Harbhajan v Murali: Harbhajan had an excellent tour of New Zealand, and he loves to bowl in the short formats. Muralitharan didn't do the damage he was expected to in the last IPL, and this is an opportunity to make amends.

Flintoff v Mumbai openers: It remains to be seen if Flintoff gets the new ball, but the fans could be in for a treat if he gets an opportunity to bowl at two of the most prolific ODI batsmen, Tendulkar and Jayasuriya.

Friendly fire

MS Dhoni v Sachin Tendulkar: They are easily the two biggest names in Indian cricket, but come Saturday, and they will walk out for the toss captaining rival teams to kick off a high-profile tournament. Knowing the respect they have for each other, though, there's little chance of anything more unsavoury than the odd friendly banter.

Team news

Chennai need to decide on the opening partner for Hayden. The contenders are Parthiv Patel, Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan and M Vijay. The first two played last year, but neither was entirely convincing. The other issue is deciding on their four foreign players. Matthew Hayden, Andrew Flintoff and Albie Morkel are near certainties, but Muralitharan might pip home boy Makhaya Ntini for the fourth spot.

Chennai Super Kings (probable) 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Parthiv Patel, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 5 S Badrinath, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Albie Morkel, 8 L Balaji, 9 Joginder Sharma, 10 Manpreet Gony, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.

Mumbai's batting appears fairly well settled, but at least one bowling spot is up for grabs. With Sanath Jayasuriya, Duminy and Dwayne Bravo almost sure to play, the fourth foreigner's spot will probably be a tussle among Dilhara Fernando, Lasith Malinga and Kyle Mills. Malinga could add firepower to the attack, but his inconsistency might tilt the scales in favour of Mills.

Mumbai Indians (probable) 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Shikhar Dhawan, 4 JP Duminy, 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Abhishek Nayar, 7 Yogesh Takawale (wk), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Dhawal Kulkarni, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Kyle Mills.

For Morkel, Duminy and perhaps Ntini, it'll also mean playing the IPL opener within hours of finishing the day-night ODI against Australia in Johannesburg.

Head-to-head record

The two teams split the two games they played in 2008, with each team winning at home: Chennai squeaked through by six runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, but Mumbai took revenge in convincing fashion, winning by nine wickets at the Wankhede Stadium.

Quotes
"Whatever has happened is over and done with. We all make mistakes learn from them. I've moved on as a cricketer and I'm looking forward to doing well for the IPL for Mumbai Indians. Keeping my fingers crossed that I perform the way I have been."
Harbhajan Singh isn't looking back at what was a forgettable IPL 2008 for him

"The expectations have definitely increased this time after we finished runners-up last time. If you compare us to the other teams, I think our team is well-balanced and definitely one of the favourites to win the tournament."
Suresh Raina has high expectations from the Chennai team

IPL-2 may rake in Rs 800 cr for all core, fringe hopefuls

NEW DELHI: India’s newest multinational, with projected revenues of Rs 800 crore in just five weeks, is all set to take wing in Cape Town on Saturday. Welcome to Lalit Modi’s India Premier League, Stage II, the Great Redeemer in these tough times, if you ask the entertainment, advertising and tourism industry.

And, if you believe Peter Roebuck, the famous Australian cricket columnist, “everyone except Elvis has been slated to appear at the opening”. And, some think he has half-a-chance of turning up,

Even before the first match, between Sachin Tendulkar’s Mumbai Indians and MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings, Multi Screen Media (MSM, previously Sony Entertainment TV), which plans to rake in close to Rs 400 crore, claims to have sold 85% of advertising space.
The franchisee teams put together may earn Rs 250 crore from sponsorship deals. The travel-tourism and restaurant sectors stand to gain revenues of Rs 50 crore each. India’s Rs 300-crore restaurant and pub industry, struggling with sagging sales, is hoping that IPL will bring it the much-needed respite.

“We expect a 30-40% increase in footfall and revenues during the IPL season,” says Rohan Jaitley of Bistro Hospitality that runs Thank God It’s Friday (TGIF) pubs in India and has partnered with Adidas, which is designing its pubs across India and offering discounts and vouchers around the IPL.

Going by the experience of IPL-1, corporate sales could pick up, as executives head out to pubs after office hours to catch a drink while watching matches on the big screen. At least, that is the collective faith. Although hotels in lost out on big business after the IPL venue was shifted to South Africa, some are hoping they will partly recoup the loss from increased food and beverage revenues.

Even ITC, the official hospitality partner, which was the most hit by the venue change, believes that IPL-2 will be a booster shot. Says ITC’s hotel division COO Dipak Haksar: “We will be running promotional activities in our pubs and restaurants to woo families and corporate executives during the IPL season and footfalls will definitely increase.”

Adds Lalit Hotels’ COO Vijay Wanchoo: “We anticipate an increase of 10-15% in sales generated by restaurants and pubs, especially during the semi-finals and finals.” According to industry estimates, hotel and restaurant owners could earn Rs 45-50 crore during the IPL.

The IPL’s venue-shift hurt plans of many businesses, but not among those complaining. The industry is seeing a surge in interest for holiday packages to South Africa, with nearly 70% of the package sales coming from companies that are sponsors or planning to take their employees for ‘offsites’ to South Africa.

South Africa prepares for biggest test as IPL crosses continents

Just in case anyone doubted the effort that has gone into shifting the Indian Premier League from one continent to another, Lalit Modi, the league's chairman, commissioner and ubiquitous public face, spelled it out. "It's taken them eight years here to get ready for the 2010 soccer World Cup," he said. "We've had 29 days." When play gets under way at Newlands today with the first two games out of 59 spread across six weeks, it will be a triumph for ambition, drive and the non-stop rise of Twenty20 cricket.

If Modi is to be believed, the IPL is not merely a sporting phenomenon of a very modern kind, but a force for good in an insecure country whose new democracy is not even two decades old. After the Lahore terrorist attacks on Sri Lanka's cricketers in March persuaded the Indian government that hosting the world's best players at the same time as staging a drawn-out general election was a recipe for trouble, South Africa happily stepped into the breach. Soon, they will be old hands at this kind of thing.

Two years ago, the country hosted the inaugural World Twenty20. Next month comes the British and Irish Lions rugby team, and later this year cricket's Champions Trophy, another refugee from the perceived dangers of the subcontinent. Next year, it will be football's World Cup. So eager are South Africa to please that when Modi declared on Thursday that the IPL would boost the local economy by between 1.5 and 2 billion rand (up to £150m), few seemed inclined to question the sums.

No matter that the Newlands-based Cape Cobras stand to earn peanuts – one million rand (just under £75,000) – for staging eight matches at short notice at the end of a busy domestic season. To be seen to help is what counts. "If it all works out it will be a reminder of how good we are at staging international events," said Andre Odendaal, the Cobras chief executive.

But business ventures – and the IPL remains very much business before pleasure – have their own ruthlessness, and the reality on the ground in the week leading up to the cricket has not quite tallied with Modi's sunny assessment of "smooth sailing". Much has been made of the sellouts at Cape Town for the weekend's two double-headers, rather less of the Newlands suiteholders persuaded to sacrifice their private boxes to allow a comfier vantage point for the IPL's endless stream of grandees.

Suiteholders at the Wanderers in Johannesburg are said to have been less compliant, and there is an underlying resentment in some quarters at the IPL's apparent sense of entitlement. Modi's decision to introduce compulsory time-outs after 10 overs of each innings, a naked means of creating more airspace for TV commercials, has gone down badly with the host broadcaster Sony, who were already fuming after Modi doubled their TV rights fee following last year's successful launch in India.

It is a financial sleight of hand that this week allowed Modi to proclaim the IPL was "recession-proof". And, with the world's financial markets hanging on for dear life, he has also declared that all eight franchises will have made a profit by the end of the tournament. The plan is to roll out one or two more teams either next year or in 2011, although Modi does at least draw the line at franchises building their own stadiums. Sensibly, perhaps, he achieved a PR coup yesterday by visiting a school in Athlone, an underprivileged part of Cape Town, where – with Kevin Pietersen, Shane Warne, the Bollywood star Preity Zinta et al looking on – he handed over a cheque in front of screaming pupils for 100,000 rand.

In fact, the South African public may well be sufficiently interested to make the tournament work. An impromptu warm-up game last week between the Cape Cobras and the Rajasthan Royals, Shane Warne's reigning IPL champions, drew a crowd of over 8,000 and Modi has claimed ticket sales will weather the initial burst of curiosity. Sixteen games – more than anywhere – have been scheduled for Durban, home to 80% of South Africa's 1.5 million Indian population. The hope is that the underwhelming open-top bus parade through Cape Town on a drizzly Thursday is not some kind of omen.

All that is left is the actual cricket, easily forgotten amid the hype. A repeat of last year's opening-night 158 from Kolkata Knight Riders' Brendon McCullum would go down a treat, but near-autumnal South African pitches may not produce the totals of 180-plus that peppered the 2008 competition in India.

In theory, the sides with the most South Africans begin with an advantage. On that score, Bangalore Royal Challengers, dismal last year, look well-placed, with Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn, Roelof van der Merwe and Dillon du Preez all coached by another local, Ray Jennings.

Their captain is Pietersen, who knows the conditions here pretty well too. "It's worked out perfectly for us with Ray as coach as well," he said. "I'm like a kid out here surrounded by all these legends. I just hope the English guys learn a few tricks and take them back to the World Twenty20."

England's players missed out last year. Now they will get to see what all the fuss is about. If the IPL can work in another country, we may just have to start taking the breast-beating Modi at his word.

Wanderers in doubt for hosting IPL matches

Wanderers hosting the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches, including the second semifinal and the final, is still in doubt as the organisers and the local cricket association have not been able to resolve the issue of VIP suites at the Johannesburg stadium.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has reportedly even threatened not to use Wanderers, the largest stadium in the country with 10,000 more seats than any other venue.

The dispute between the IPL and the Gauteng Cricket Board (GCB) is over the IPL's demand for all the suites in the main pavilion to accommodate its VIP guests including Bollywood stars during the six league games, one semi-final and the final scheduled to be held there. The IPL organisers and local cricket authorities at the other venues have resolved the dispute over suites without much of a hassle.

There is still time for the matter to be resolved as the first match at Wanderers, between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils, is to be played only on May 2.

GCB said it had complied with the initial IPL request to make 2,400 suite seats available for the semifinal and the final, including the use of the prestigious Long Room President's Suite.

GCB cited contractual obligations with its suite holders which did not allow it to accede to the IPL request.

"We have considered the IPL's request, but we regret it is not possible to release all the suites," the report quoted GCB.

The IPL has offered to provide free tickets in the main pavilion of Wanderers for suite holders as well as a demarcated area for their refreshments, but it appears that CSA would have to foot the bill for this from the 30 million rands it is reportedly getting for hosting the series.