In the Name of Cricket

23/05/2009

I am for round the year IPL

Modi has set the cat among the pigeons by talking of two IPL’s a year. I am all for it and suggest Modi should not stop with two; there should be two if not three IPL.

To make IPL interesting, I go so far to suggest that franchisees should have a different set of players with a limitation of just 2 or 3 players playing in all the tournaments.

I am all for more IPL because I believe, a meaningless IPL is far more entertaining and is of much superior quality than a meaningless Test.

Mind you, I use the word ‘quality’ with a purpose. Everyone will agree that in a IPL match there are two teams with top rung players playing, whereas you cannot say the same about the teams playing a Test (outside the ‘iconic’ series).

When quality cricketers participate, it follows automatically that we get to see quality games. Unquestionably, everyone would prefer watching top-drawer stuff.

22/05/2009

A man and his drink are one

A man goes to great lengths to save his beer. Obviously, it can happen only during cricket match.

Mongoose – A Twenty20 bat

Cricket bat manufacturers surely do have a sense of humor. Otherwise, why will they go name a new bat designed for the Twenty20 game as ‘Mongoose’?

Anyway, this bat has a blade 33% shorter and a handle that is 44% longer than the normal conventional one.

I can understand the thought behind a 44% longer handle, but the justification for a 33 % shorter blade beats me.

Do you have thoughts on the reasoning behind a shorter blade?

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21/05/2009

IPL - Chennai Super Kings Qualify for the Semi’s

What a relief!

Somehow, despite the reassuring numbers (net run-rate, points et all.), I dreaded the thought of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) losing to Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). To me I wanted a comprehensive win – a win that will ensure our entry into the semi-finals without the aid of a calculator.

Well, to my utter delight, CSK did just that beating KXIP by 24 runs. Muthiah Muralidaran did the star turn by taking 2-8. Raina and Ashwin ably backed him.

This victory should open Dhoni’s eyes to the fact that the bowlers are winning matches and batsmen have been a huge let down. Dhoni should concentrate his ire on the batsmen as they to fritter away the racing starts provided by the openers.

With 17 points CSK join Delhi Daredevils as one of the semi-finalists. The result of today’s match will reveal the other two semi-finalists.

20/05/2009

Familiar stories from Pakistan

Here we go again.

Pakistan cricket struggles to come out of the self created mire called Shoaib Akthar. Having let him dupe them one many times it is doubtful whether the current threat held out by Alam will do any good.

Elsewhere there is the familiar story of Mohammad Yousuf being pardoned and recalled for the forthcoming test series against Sri Lanka.

IPL is a 'lefty' game

Image by storem via Flickr

Mull this:

"On one hand we have Matthew Hayden (Chennai Super Kings, 426), Suresh Raina (Chennai Super Kings, 309), J P Duminy (Mumbai Indians, 297) and Yuvraj Singh (Kings XI Punjab, 296) as the top four batsmen. Gilchrist again features in the top 10 list with an aggregate of 265 from 10 games so far.

On the other hand, we have bowlers like R P Singh (Deccan Chargers), Ashish Nehra (Delhi Daredevils), Yusuf Abdulla (Kings XI Punjab), Shadab Jakati (Chennai Super Kings) and Pragyan Ojha (Deccan Chargers) featuring among the top bowlers in the competition."

Why are the left- hander's having a field day in IPL?

Ashes Squad : Symonds misses out

It appears Ponting's influence is waning. For despite his none too subtle hints Symonds misses out on Australia's Ashes squad

06/05/2009

Bottoms up to the Panamanian Women Cricket team

Having thrown my lot with Chennai Super Kings openly, I have often wondered what to do if they fail to reach the semi-finals.

The most obvious thing would be to return to writing about cricket in general. That however, appears mundane after the thrill of supporting CSK.

Thankfully, that is when I came across these photographs of the Panamanian Women’s Cricket team in action. I decided immediately that this is a team worthy of my affections.

Henceforth, I declare myself a fan of the Panamanian Women’s Cricket team.

Hat Tip: YUHMM

A worthwhile suggestion

One of the issues taxing the minds of administrators is how to retain a cricketer’s interest in Test cricket. It is a complex issue because though the current lot of players and the cricketing associations waxes eloquently on how Test cricket is the pinnacle. However, their deeds prove otherwise.

For example, in a survey conducted last week, cricketers in New Zealand plumped for a contract with IPL as their most cherished objective. If this was alarming, consider the ‘late arrival of’ Gayle, Collingwood and Bopara for the Test that started today.

Closer home we had Dhoni skipping the Test series against the Sri Lankans in order to refresh himself for the ODI series that followed. (A point in his favour is that he was the Captain of the Indian ODI team).

We also have the examples of Scott Styris who retired from the longer format to extend his career. Similarly, Shaun Tait, the shirker, has also tested the waters by suggesting that his injuries may force him to concentrate on the shorter formats. This, to use a cliché, is the tip of the iceberg, we may very soon see many others follow suit.

It is painfully apparent that the money lavished on the cricketers by these proliferating T20 Leagues ( at the last count excepting our immediate neighbours, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, all cricketing nations conduct or propose to conduct one) have proved too tantalizing for them to ignore.

The need to cash in or to put it more prosaically, the need to spread the game and keep afloat has put the cricketing associations between the devil and the deep sea. Neither can they ignore the T20 phenomenon nor can they ignore Test cricket.

To address this particular issue, IPL announced grandiosely a clause in their contract that bars recently retired cricketers from joining the league. However, one wonders how Scott Styris managed to by pass this clause. Once again, it becomes obvious, that the associations, the supposed guardians of the sanctity of Test cricket connive to bypass these checks and balances.

Amongst other suggestions, one finds Collingwood’s suggestion to bring pay parity amongst all formats of the game excellent.

One can almost visualize the knee jerk reaction to this suggestion from the administrators. They are sure to trot out the age-old reason of lack of money. However, it will not hold water as they could plough back the proceeds they get from conducting these T20 leagues to Test cricket.

If that is not practical, why don’t they club sponsorship of all the formats together? For example, a television broadcaster bidding for the rights to telecast a T20 league should by default also bid for the rights for that year’s Test matches.

This is surely only one of the means to make up the difference; one believes there are other means to shore up the finances.

What do you think of Collingwood’s suggestion to bring parity in pay?

05/05/2009

Chennai Super Kings seek a cure for butterfingers

Image via Wikipedia

If there was a blot in their performance against Deccan Chargers yesterday, it was the fielding.

The fielders dropped dollies of successive deliveries and instead of affecting a run out, they converted it into a game of tag. Smith the beneficiary went on to make a rapid 49. Luckily, his innings only served to delay our victory.

However in the earlier matches catches dropped of Sachin and AB de Villiers proved costly and we went on to lose both the matches albeit closely.

All this makes one wonder what is causing this epidemic amongst the Chennai Super Kings fielders. Is it the swine flu or a simple case of nerves?

Whatever be it a cure has to be found at the earliest.

Chennai Super Kings play a perfect game.

Female jogger with good tan jogging - Scenes f...

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IPL 2009 - Chennai Super Kings vs. Deccan Chargers, East London

For the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), everything went right from the toss. Both the batsmen and the bowlers combined to hand Deccan Chargers (DC) a resounding thrashing.

Chasing 179, DC could manage only 100 runs in 14.3 over’s. If it were not for some lusty hitting by Smith, who chanced his arm and led a charmed existence and by Sharma to a lesser extent, the margin of victory would have been massive.

What was impressive about CSK’s performance was that their bowlers despite the Smith – Sharma onslaught stuck to their task and made deep inroads into DC as soon as the partnership was broken.

CSK now seem set for a semi-final slot.

04/05/2009

The npower girls are back!

Image by Gouldy99 via Flickr

The npower girls have almost become a tradition associated with English cricket season.

So come the new season come the new npower girls.

You can check out the npower girls profile here.

Let us hope this tradition continues.

India T20 World Cup squad announced

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Virender Sehwag

Gautam Gambhir

Suresh Raina

Yuvraj Singh

Yusuf Pathan

Rohit Sharma

Harbhajan Singh

Zaheer Khan

Ishant Sharma

Praveen Kumar

Rudra Pratap Singh

Ravindra Jadeja

Pragyan Ojha

Irfan Pathan

Notable exclusions: Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Munaf Patel, Joginder Singh. One does not know whether Sreesanth should also be considered as a notable exclusion as he is reportedly yet to recover from a back injury.

I also wonder what happened to the petition to include Sachin Tendulkar.

Nothing is going right for the Knight Riders

Saddled with a coach who believes he is setting new parameters by bringing baseball strategies to cricket, an owner who is after publicity and television footage and now a befuddled captain, one feels for the players of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

It speaks of the resilience of the team that despite muddled batting and dropping four catches they managed to hold on to until the last ball and lost yet another close match to Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).

For the record Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), won by six wickets off the last ball and KKR appear to have missed their chance to make it to the semi-final.

03/05/2009

Will Chennai Super Kings score a hat-trick?

Two team's, one on the upswing i.e., Chennai Super Kings with two successive victories and the other on a downward spiral, i.e., Deccan Chargers with two successive loss face each other at Buffalo Park today.

Which means their match -up is going to be interesting and could well set the tone of their IPL campaign.

Can the Chennai Super Kings continue their winning ways?

IPL 2 - Chennai Super Kings beat Delhi Daredevils

Image by summer luu via Flickr

Considering the murderous Delhi Daredevils (DD) batting line up, the 163 runs target set by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) appeared insufficient. Adding to my discomfort was the fact that the Johannesburg pitch is reputedly one of the best batting wickets in the world; a fact constantly dinned in by Kepler Wessels and Co.

However, despite David Warner’s 51 off 40 balls and Dinesh Karthik 52 off 31, the CSK bowlers were in control and DD crashed to an 18-run defeat.

Now to the specifics of last nights performance. I still feel that CSK were 20 runs short. The problem area, as already pointed out by other discerning observers, appears to be the inability of Dhoni, Morkel and Oram to get going. Even in this match, CSK coasted to 163 on the back of Hayden’s cameo and surprisingly bristling batting by Badrinath.

Vijay, who replaced Parthiv in the squad, appeared to have succumbed to nerves. He was trying to belt the ball without getting his eye in. His performance yesterday was similar to the discarded Parthiv. What I expect from Vijay is to play around Hayden and then when situation warrants launch into strokes.

Once again, the unappreciated bowlers saved CSK. Regular readers may have noticed that all along I have refrained from pointing fingers at them. Considering the limitations imposed on them by the format, they did an excellent job and in fact performed much better than the over- indulged middle –order.

This win certainly leaves CSK looking good at the points table, but if the middle-order continues to splutter, then CSK may have to consider themselves lucky to be one among the losing semifinalists.

02/05/2009

Defeat dulls Yuvraj’s brilliance

Yuvraj brilliance lighted up what at first appeared as a dull encounter.

In the match between Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Yuvraj unsatisfied with taking a hat trick proceeded to blast a 34-ball 50.

Yuvraj opened with K.Goel when KXIP set out to chase the target of 145 set by RCB. He proceeded to impose himself directly by scoring exactly 50 (3x4, 4x6). Victory should fittingly crown his champagne performance; alas, it was not to be.

Following his dismissal, RCB’s bowlers scripted a turn around and proceeded to win the match. The penultimate over bowled by Anil Kumble changed the course of the match. Praveen Kumar then removed Irfan Pathan and Piyush Chawla of successive deliveries in the final over and won the match for RCB.

Chennai Super Kings campaign on track?

More than the change in personnel, it was the batting order that did the trick for Chennai Super Kings. Badrinath coming in at No.3 with his intelligent batting inducted a new kind of flow.

However as a Chennai Super Kings(CSK) fan, I wish the team management will effect a couple of more changes. Yes, I join other CSK fans in calling for the sacking of Parthiv Patel and Jacob Oram.

Both these players appear overburdened. Parthiv Patel is trier but that is it, he is incapable of imparting dynamism at the top. Same is the case of Oram, he is either unfit or treating his IPL commitment as an all expenses paid vacation. He is doing just what he is asked. However, his presence in the team means Morkel is batting too low and has insufficient time to make an impact.

I suggest that Makhaya Ntini replace the lackluster Oram. Considering that the pitch for today's match is reputed to be fast Ntini may well turn out to be a trump card against the Delhi Daredevils.

Chennai Super Kings League results and points standing

Chennai Super Kings 6 2 3 0 1 5

01/05/2009

Who will lead RCB?

The captaincy confusion still prevails in Royal Challengers Bangalore's camp.

As we all know Kallis was deemed to replace Pietersen, but his lack of form has meant that names like Boucher is doing the rounds. Their coach Ray Jennings had implied that even Dravid has a chance to return as captain, which is not surprising as he is the only player who is a certainity in the playing eleven.

Amidst this engaging conundrum, Anil Kumble's name is also being projected as a possibility. However, my gut feeling is Mark Boucher will be made the captain as none of the others suit Kingfisher's corporate image.

29/04/2009

Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals (Supersport Park, Centurion, Pretoria)

The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is up against it. Not only are they in a trough and trailing in the points table, they are up against the rejuvenated Rajasthan Royals (RR).

If you take the teams and compare them man to man then CSK is a far stronger team. Unfortunately, for them under the inspiring leadership of Shane Warne, RR team is a motivated lot and hence more than a match.

In sharp contrast CSK is a team that lacks motivation and with the captain under pressure to perform with the bat they need luck to prevail over RR. Both their batsmen and their bowlers are under par and going by Dhoni’s statements it appears there are going to be numerous changes in the squad.

The question is will a change in personnel help CSK’s cause.

BCCI reprieves ICL players but will ICL let them free?

Image via Wikipedia

After being mule-headed for long the BCCI has announced that ICL players will be considered for domestic tournament if they disassociate themselves from it by May 31 st.

Which is all very good and magnanimous of the BCCI. However, ICL announced on the 15 th of April its plan to launch ICL Season-3 with its 'October-November 2009'-Winter edition of the ICL 20s Indian Championship, preceded by the ICL 20-20 Domestic Tournament & camp for its players.

Given that no love is lost between the two leagues, it is unlikely that the ICL will release its contracted players without getting its pound of flesh.

Once again the players are caught between the devil and the deep sea.

It is Ravi Bopara at No.3

Ravinder Bopara at the Cricketforce Launch, Up...

Image via Wikipedia

The England squad for the first Test against West Indies at Lord’s has a few surprises.

After much debate at least in the media, Ravi Bopara finds himself in the 12-man squad. The selectors have omitted Michael Vaughan, Ian Bell and Owais Shah, in essence leaving the No.3 position to Bopara to make it his own.

The other surprise is the selection of Graham Onions instead of Steve Harmison. I had genuinely believed that Harmison would get another chance to redeem himself. Looks like the selectors have lost patience with his weak willed ways.

Another surprise is the retention of Monty Panesar, I believe that after his non-performance in India and in the West Indies, he is lucky to find a place in the English squad for the first Test.

England squad for the first npower Test match against West Indies at Lord's (May 6-10):

Andrew Strauss (Middlesex, captain)

James Anderson (Lancashire)

Ravi Bopara (Essex)

Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire)

Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)

Paul Collingwood (Durham)

Alastair Cook (Essex)

Graham Onions (Durham)

Monty Panesar (Northamptonshire)

Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire)

Matt Prior (Sussex, wkt)

Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire)

Tait to target shorter formats

Yet another cricketer thinks of retiring from Test cricket to extend his career.

Tait ponders Test retirement - Cricket News | SPORTBOX.tv - Nothing Inside But Sport

Petition to see Sachin Tendulkar at T20 World Cup 2009

I had been expecting this to happen from the first match that Mumbai Indians played against Chennai Super Kings.

It was a certainty once Sachin blazed away in last nights match against Kolkata Knightriders.

In between Sachin proclaimed on his birthday that he felt like a 16 year old.

Well then here it goes. Sachins fans have taken the cue and have started a petition to make Sachin play the ICC World Cup Twenty20.

If you want Sachin to play the t20 world cup, please sign http://www.petitiononline.com/srt4t20/

28/04/2009

List of commentators for IPL 2009

These are the commentators on World feed contracted by IMG and based in SA.

RamizRaja
Sunny Gavaskar
Ravi Shastri
Pommie Mbangwa
Kepler Wessels
Danny Morrison
Greg Blewett
Robin Jackman
Alistair Campbell
Jeremy Coney
Ranjit Fernando
Simon Doull
L S Shivaramakrishnan
Mark Nicolas

Apart from this, their Mumbai studio may have any of the following.

Sameer and Gaurav
Arun Lal
Akash Chopra
Anjum Chopra
Mohinder Amarnath

Will Pakistan boycott 2011 Cricket World Cup?

BBC reports that the majority of 2011 Cricket World Cup matches scheduled to be hosted in Pakistan have been switched to India.

The reports also add that India will host 29 of the 49 matches across eight venues,Sri Lanka will host 12 games while Bangladesh will stage eight at two grounds, along with the opening ceremony on 18 February 2011.India will now hold the final and one semi-final, with Bangladesh hosting two quarter-finals and Sri Lanka one.

The Pakistan cricketers and the cricketing establishment will assail this move.

On May 24, Imran Khan had called for moving the World Cup to Australia. Just yesterday, Reuters quoted Javed Miandad as saying that “The International Cricket Council should shift the 2011 World Cup out of Asia after Australia refused to send its Davis Cup tennis team to India”.Surely, the other rablle-rousers will follow suit and in a show of bravado raise their voices for a boycott.

Though, Haroon Lorgat has dismissed any chance of Pakistan boycotting the World Cup, the incendiary comments from the political and cricket establishment in Pakistan may well cause PCB to take this drastic step.

Termonologies in cricket explained.

A layman's guide to terminologies in cricket:

Underarm delivery: Australians acting like dickheads.

Pitch report: When your mate points out the hotties in the place when you arrive.

Stranded on 99: Getting along great in bed, clothes off, about to raise the bat and kiss the emblem and the girl gets cold feet and says no. Doesn't happen often and it was a good knock until then.

Do a Gilly: Walk when you didn't have to, the girl is ready to go home with you but you somehow disappear (tribute to Adam Gilchrist).

You can find more termonologies in cricket here.

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Chennai Super Kings ambushed by Deccan Chargers

Yet another defeat in the final over

I am convinced that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batsmen are failing the team. In all the matches we have lost in the final over, clearly indicating that, the batsmen have scored 20 runs less than what the situation warrants.

What CSK needs to do now is to revamp the batting and clear up Dhonis clogged head.

To elaborate, persisting with Parthiv is perplexing as he is a misfit as an opener. Similarly, Badrinath is wasted down the order, so why not free up the batting by replacing Parthiv Patel with Badri. As I had written earlier, Badri can keep the scoreboard ticking and prove a foil for Hayden’s big hitting.

It is patently evident that Dhoni is a shadow of his earlier big hitting self. He appears satisfied with compiling a run a ball innings. Pundits may laud him for subjugating his flair for the sake of the team. I however believe that we do not need Dhoni for that kind of innings. For that, there are many other players’ .For example Badrinath can be used as an anchor through out the innings and the big hitters and the flamboyant players like Raina can build the innings around him.

It is also evident that Dhoni has lost clarity of thought and appears to lose his much-acclaimed ability to read the game. He is floundering and very soon, I expect his on field cool demeanor to crack. Worryingly, there is nothing specifically wrong with his captaincy, but his inability to stay two steps ahead of the game is evident by his choices. For example, earlier the bowling or batting order changes he made worked giving him a Midas aura. Now they do not work leaving us all wondering whether his early successes was because of luck.

Leaving all this frustrated nitpicking aside, it is my belief that whether setting or chasing a target the Chennai Super Kings have to scale up to score 20 runs more than what they have done until now.

Do you have any suggestions to reverse CSK’s fortunes?

Image by Zn

27/04/2009

Can Chennai Super Kings halt the Deccan Chargers?

Only a rabid fan like me will say that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) can halt the Deccan Chargers (DC) blitzkrieg. A look at the records clearly shows the vast gulf between the teams.

The Deccan Chargers have won all their matches and are leading the points table. CSK’s third position is courtesy of a lone win and a split point they earned out of an abandoned match against Kolkata Knight Riders.

A look at their games clearly shows that CSK is struggling in the batting department. We can argue that CSK have lost their matches with narrow margin, however, they could have won these matches if their batsmen had scored the crucial 20 or 30 runs more.

What CSK has to do to win is that either, one of their batsmen plays a big innings or one more batsmen, say Dhoni, score a fifty. If neither happens, then CSK will suffer another narrow defeat.

26/04/2009

ICC clubs American Premier League with ICL

Just when I thought the American Premier League was gaining traction, here comes the news that ICC has declared it as unauthorized and have warned players from taking part in it. Surprisingly, the ICC seemed to taken the decision on its own as there is no hint that the BCCI has flexed its financial muscle.

Meanwhile Sir Richard Hadlee has stirred up the controversy surrounding APL by confirming he would act as an executive consultant to the American Premier League. He is the first officially announced big name to have confirmed his association with the six-team Twenty20 competition.

It is rumoured that Inzamam-ul-Haq and some more Pakistani players associated with ICL have signed up though there has been no formal acknowledgment of their participation.

A damp squib

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Chennai Super Kings Vs Kolkata Knight Riders

My prediction that the match between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders would be boring (KKR) came true, thanks to rain.

It was so boring watching the covered wicket and the endless replays’. Eventually the match was abandoned with not even a ball being bowled.

Both CSK and KKR get a point and by pure luck, Chennai Super Kings manage to become 3rd in the points table.

25/04/2009

Knights cross swords with Kings

The Chennai Super Kings match against Kolkata Knight Riders in the DLF-Indian Premier League today could well turn out to be a boring match.

Both teams have a lot to lose and hence will play warily. Unless someone comes up with an electrifying performance, both teams will play the percentages and strive to minimize their mistakes.

This match could be boring because, both KKR and CSK have not come up with one stunning performance. Their performances have been adequate and hence they have lost close matches. However, CSK has more positives because they won their match against RCB comprehensively, whereas KKR won their only match against KXIP based on the D/L method.

Talking about this match from CSK’s angle, they have to win and if possible win big. Now that Flintoff has flown the coop, Ntini is a certainty. It will mean Badrinath will get an opportunity to make an effective contribution with his bat. Finally, CSK needs to capitalize on the tempo created by Hayden and get over its ‘strategy break’ hang-up.

In short CSK should stop playing like mere mortals and start playing like Kings.

Flintoff limps off /IPL/CSK/Knee injury/

Complete tear of medial meniscus with free-flo...

Image via Wikipedia

It is reported that Flintoff felt discomfort while playing in the Chennai Super Kings Vs Delhi Daredevils.

CSK team's management sent Flintoff for a scan in Durban where a slight medial meniscal tear was revealed. They have sent Flintoff back to England for keyhole surgery scheduled next week.

This injury is a bigger blow to Chennai SuperKings than England as it means that they will lose his services for this tournament. However, England can expect him to be fit for the ICC World Twenty20 and definitely fully fit for the Ashes.

To those who are readying themselves to blame IPL for this injury, please remember that the ‘meniscus’ can be torn by activities such as walking or squatting or even by playing sports. However, in Flintoff's case, the damage has occurred due to prolonged wear and tear and if he had not played in IPL, he could have torn it while walking on the beach.

Though Flintoff has been expensive, both in terms of acquisition cost and in terms of his performance, this is indeed a loss for the CSK. Now they have to plan their campaign without his burly presence.

24/04/2009

Royal Challengers Vs Kings XI - Desperate Stuff

Image by quinn.anya via Flickr

Both teams languish at the IPL points table.

For Kings XI, D/L has cost them both their rain affected match. Another factor that is stopping them is Yuvraj Singh's uninspiring captaincy. For a team that made it to the semi-finals in the 2008 edition, it is desperate times and a must win game.

Coming to the Royal Challengers, it is more of a morass they are unable to lift themselves from. They lack magic; both the batsmen and bowlers despite their first match win appear sapped. Despite Rahul Dravid competing with Mathew Hayden for the 'purple cap' the team appears unable to lift themselves from run – a - ball mentality. The batsmen should start thinking of Twenty20 as Twenty20 and not as an ODI match.

A win, will rejuvenate a teams chance for a berth in the semi-final.

Super over Seals Kolkata Knight Riders fate

Yusuf Pathan blasted 18 runs off four balls as Rajasthan Royals snatched victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders in a 'super over' after their match ended in a tie.

Kolkata needed only seven to win off the last over; sadly, Ishanth Sharma was run out attempting to finish the winning run of the last ball of the match. This left the teams tied at 150 runs and brought the super over into play.

KKR scored 15 for 1 thanks to Chris Gayles 3 successive fours in the super over. However, Yusuf Pathan of RR, who took the strike against Ajantha Mendis of KKR in the super over blasted 6, 2, 6 and 4 and ensured that Rajasthan Royals won with ease.