Cricket

Delhi finally feels like home for Delhi Daredevils. With players such as Virender Sehwag, David Warner and Morne Morkel in the side, they had been frustrated by lifeless home tracks that made stroke-play and pace bowling difficult. Before this game Sehwag demanded pace, and then in the company of Warner showed just why. They added 146 for the first wicket in 11.4 overs, an ideal platform for a comfortable win despite an equally remarkable innings by Shaun Marsh, and despite the continuing good luck of Kings XI Punjab's openers who were both dropped on nought. With the ball coming on well on this green pitch, Warner and Sehwag let the bowlers feel their wrath. They were like beasts who had been uncaged after years of confinement, gorging on anything remotely loose. It is a scary thought to imagine what Sehwag would have managed had he not got out for 77 off 35, trying a fourth successive six off the fourth delivery of a David Hussey over. Sehwag even dived into his cr...

Chris Gayle has arrived. He smashed his way to his first IPL century, the second-fastest in this edition of the competition, and was the architect of Bangalore's victory over his former team, Kolkata. Gayle formed powerful partnerships with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Virat Kohli as Bangalore were untroubled in their chase of 172, winning by nine wickets. The pitch was proving to be tricky for the quicks and Kolkata opted to start with a spinner after having posted 171. Yusuf Pathan, who was battling a knee niggle, opened the bowling. After three good deliveries, Yusuf strayed on the leg stump and Dilshan cashed in with four through square leg. With that, the flood gates were opened. In the fourth over, Gayle had scored just three singles - while Dilshan had notched up 19 - when he was offered a full toss. He drove it down past the non-striker for the first of his 17 boundaries. It didn't matter what Bangalore tried after that. Jaidev Unadkat was dispatched with ...

Don't shake Paul Valthaty 's hand any time soon. You might just turn to gold. He followed up his century in Kings XI Punjab's previous game by surprising everybody with his split-finger slower balls, in the Dilhara Fernando mould, taking 4 for 29, the best figures by any Punjab bowler, and then - with a 47-ball 75 - made a mockery of a target he had himself kept down to 165. The turnaround for Punjab began with a good piece of fielding, and then a fortuitous lob off what should have been a leg-side wide. Until then Kumar Sangakkara and Shikhar Dhawan had put up a fine display of driving in a 75-run second-wicket stand, Deccan's best for any wicket this season, but both fell within three runs to send the hosts into rebuild mode for the best part of the second half of their innings. Deccan Chargers had reached 88 for 1 in the 11th over, and the set batsmen were just looking to open up further when a diving Shaun Marsh at extra cover made sure Sangakkara st...

Kolkata Knight Riders won by nine wickets and with nine deliveries to spare. It shouldn't have been that easy but Gautam Gambhir and Jacques Kallis starred in a supremely well-paced chase as Kolkata successfully hunted down a potentially tough 160-run target on a sluggish track in Jaipur. The first game-seizing moment of the chase came in the sixth over, bowled by Amit Singh. Kolkata were 44 for 1 from five overs and it was obvious that they had to fully utilise the new ball and the Powerplay on this slow track. It was an over that could have tilted the game either way: Amit tried to keep it tight, Gambhir took risks, two shots eluded palms of fielders in the off side but not by much, and Gambhir looted 18 runs. He flat-batted the first ball past the diving Ross Taylor at extra cover, slashed the third past the diving Abhishek Raut at point, glanced the fourth to fine-leg, and crashed the final delivery over mid-off. The second turning point was Gambhir's cont...

Two weeks ago, the crowd at the Wankhede was delirious though a fervently anticipated Sachin Tendulkar century didn't materialise. On Friday, the same crowd went home dejected despite Tendulkar crafting his first Twenty20 century, as Kochi Tuskers Kerala busted their party with one of the most memorable chases in IPL history. Two of the world's finest Twenty20 batsmen, Brendon McCullum and Mahela Jayawardene, constructed chalk-and-cheese half-centuries to power Kochi's pursuit of 183. Both perished to Lasith Malinga's deadly deliveries but Kochi, who had stumbled in the final stretch of their first two games, didn't slip up this time as Ravindra Jadeja and Brad Hodge muscled boundaries to finish the game with an over to spare. Tendulkar's effort checked off another item on his ever-shrinking to-do list, and Mumbai ran up a tall total without needing contributions from Rohit Sharma, Andrew Symonds and Kieron Pollard. It was then assumed that the bowl...

The IPL's northernmost franchise found a hero with roots in the south, as Paul Valthaty stunned Chennai Super Kings to clinch a maiden win for Kings XI Punjab this season after a disappointing performance in their opening game. Valthaty was a surprise promotion to the opening slot, instead of the regular Shaun Marsh, and he answered the call with a blistering start, keeping his team on par with the required-rate in the middle overs and surging again at the death to complete victory after achieving a spectacular century. At 27, with just one List A game and 13 Twenty20 matches, Valthaty had been on the sidelines of the Mumbai team on India's domestic circuit. His previous highest in the IPL was 6, but whatever he must have done at the practice sessions ahead of this game sparked a potentially career-changing turn of events. Punjab had been deflated at the end of the Chennai innings, after they had squandered the perfect start of two wickets off the first two ball...

Rajasthan Royals executed a well-calibrated chase against an off-colour Delhi Daredevils attack to register their second win in two games and move atop the IPL leaderboard. The senior players soaked up the pressure - Rahul Dravid set up the chase and Johan Botha anchored it - while the youngsters, Ashok Menaria and Ajinkya Rahane, batted with freedom to keep the required-rate under control. Ross Taylor added the finishing touches with his trademark leg-side lashes. While Rajasthan's batting flowed seamlessly, their bowling was a tale of two halves. Their fortunes were typified by Shaun Tait's four one-over spells. He got rid of Virender Sehwag and Aaron Finch - two parts of Delhi's powerful top-order trinity - in first two overs. David Warner, the third part, survived Tait and saw off a sublime spell from Shane Warne before counter-punching along with Venugopal Rao. Tait was either too short or too full in his final spell, and allowed Delhi to haul themselves f...

Date Local/IST No. Match Details Venue 8-Apr-11 20:00 1st Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 1st IPL Chennai 9-Apr-11 16:00 2nd Deccan Chargers vs Rajasthan Royals, 2nd IPL Hyderabad 9-Apr-11 20:00 3rd Kochi Tuskers Kerala vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, 3rd IPL Kochi 10-Apr-11 16:00 4th Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians, 4th IPL Delhi 10-Apr-11 20:00 5th Pune Warriors vs Kings XI Punjab, 5th IPL Navi Mumbai 11-Apr-11 20:00 6th Kolkata Knight Riders vs Deccan Chargers, 6th IPL Kolkata 12-Apr-11 16:00 7th Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils, 7th IPL Jaipur 12-Apr-11 20:00 8th Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians, 8th IPL Bangalore 13-Apr-11 16:00 9th Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings, 9th IPL Mohali 13-Apr-11 20:00 10th Pune Warriors vs Kochi Tuskers Kerala, 10th IPL Navi Mumbai 14-Apr-11 20:00 11th Deccan Chargers vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, 11th IPL Hyderabad 15-Apr-11 16:00 12th...

The 32-year-old Delhi opener has been part of the Delhi Daredevils since the IPL began in 2008. Under his leadership, Delhi Daredevils reached the semi-finals in the first two editions of the IPL and also topped the league stage in 2009. Sehwag said he was looking forward to taking the Daredevils to new heights in IPL-4. "For me there cannot be any other team than Delhi Daredevils in the IPL. As someone who grew up playing cricket in Delhi I am very proud to be playing for the Delhi Daredevils. I am delighted to be part of the Delhi Daredevils and lead the team," said Sehwag. Srinivas Bommidala, chairman of GMR Sports, said Sehwag was the source of inspiration and strength for both young and experienced players. "He is a leader who paves the way by example," he said. P.B. Vanchi, director GMR Sports, said: "Viru has been an integral part of the Delhi Daredevils from the day it was formed. He has been the face of the team and an icon best suited to lead ...

Kirsten's contract with the Indian team ends after the World Cup and he is unlikely to renew it as he wants to spend more time with his family in South Africa. But a coaching job in the month-long IPL is something that he might fancy. "Indian cricket had hoped to persuade Kirsten to change his mind about not renewing his contract, but gave up on it this week. Future options for Kirsten could involve the Indian Premier League," a report in The Times said. "The close relationship that Kirsten has with Sachin Tendulkar may lead to cooperation between the two at the Mumbai Indians, who are expected to appoint a director of coaching before the next IPL season," The report said. "Kirsten could easily take up such a position while still developing his international academy that is in the planning stage at Claremont Cricket Club in Cape Town

The Kochi franchise of the Indian Premier League (IPL) neither confirmed nor denied reports that they have approached the IPL governing council to rope in former India captain Sourav Ganguly.

Royal Challengers Bangalore owner Vijay Mallya has said Daniel Vettori was the ideal replacement for RCB retired skipper Anil Kumble, and added that he “kept a little back” to secure the New Zealand captain amid the auction frenzy. Mallya said: “Anil Kumble, who was our captain and the specialist spinner in the side, decided to join us as chief mentor, so I was looking for a quality spinner who could also bat.” Mallya, who was on a flying visit to Christchurch yesterday, said he was delighted to have the experienced all-rounder''s services for the 2011 IPL. He said it was bargain to buy Vettori for 550,000 dollars at last week’s IPL auction. “I bought many of my players early, before the auction really started warming up,” he said. “When Vettori turn came, everybody had already spent so much money on the Indian players. I kept a little back, so I had the money to grab him,” he said.

Rajasthan's strategy, according to franchise officials, will be to use players such as Rahul Dravid and Shane Warne to attract and mould younger, talented domestic players.

Gilchrist, the former Australia wicketkeeper, will be the captain of Kings XI Punjab for the fourth season of the IPL, the Punjab coach Michael Bevan has said. Bevan said Punjab bought Gilchrist, who led Hyderabad to the trophy in the IPL's second season, specifically for his leadership skills. Gilchrist was bought on the first day of the auction for $900,000.

The Pakistan Cricket Board is ready to provide all documents and clearance for its players if the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decides to allow its cricketers to take part in the IPL 4. A senior official of the PCB Subhan told at a press conference on Saturday that the Board was interested in sending its players for the IPL 2011 to India. "We are keen on this and if the Indian board requires us to provide any clearance or NOC for any player we will do it," Subhan said. He added that the PCB had already written to the BCCI on the issue last week and were awaiting a reply from them.

Legendary West Indian batsman Brian Lara, dashing Australian wicketkeeper batsman Adam Gilchrist are among overseas players who have been put in the top br acket base price for the upcoming auctions of the fourth edition of Indian Premier League. As per information received, Mitchell Johnson, Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting's name doesn't figure in the list that the IPL governing council has sent to the franchisees. Around 400 foreign players have expressed their willingness to be a part of the cricketing extravaganza. They have been classified in six brackets ranging from $20,000 to $400,000. The Australians have only three players - top scorer in IPL 1 Shaun Marsh, Gilchrist, the captain of second edition champions Deccan Chargers and speed merchant Brett Lee in the top bracket base price. The Hussey brothers Mike and David are in the second base price bracket of $300,000 while T20 and ODI specialist David Warner is in the third bracket with a base price of $200,000...