Jayawardene ends Punjab's losing streak

Mahela Jaywardene smashed a brilliant 110 not out off just 59 balls to power the Kings XI Punjab to their second win of the tournament against the Kolkata Knight Riders. Chasing 201, Punjab romped home with 10 balls to spare. This was the third time in the IPL when a total in excess of 200 was chased down successfully by a team.
Chris Gayle's brutal 88 off 42 went in vain as Kolkata were stunned by a super 98-run partnership between Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara (38). The Lankan pair turned the game completely in Punjab's favour with some classy shots.
Jaywardene, who opened the batting, smashed 13 fours and three sixes to keep the Punjab chase on the track through out the second innings with his first IPL hundred.
Earlier, Gayle, once again started sedately, but cut loose just before the death overs to tear apart the Punjab bowlers. The West Indian batsman smashed eight sixes and six boundaries to post the highest score at the Eden Gardens in the IPL.
After electing to bat, the Knight Riders were off to a solid start with Sourav Ganguly and Gayle ensuring no early breakthroughs for Punjab. The Knight Riders skipper, who returned to form in the previous game with 88, was snared by Ravi Bopara for 36 off 31 balls. But Bopara's ecstasy did not last long as Gayle suddenly launched an explosive attack against him in the 13th over. The medium pacer conceded 33 runs, the most expensive over in the IPL, with Gayle smashing four sixes. The southpaw targetted the straight boundaries with the ball clearing the ropes comfortably on every occasion.
Gayle then smashed Piyush Chawla for two sixes in one over before skying one but as luck would have it, the bowler grassed the chance. However, the lapse did not prove too costly as Gayle holed out to Bopara off Juan Theron, who replaced Brett Lee in the line-up, in an attempt to hit consecutive sixes

Collingwood stars as Delhi thrash Bangalore

Delhi Daredevils closed in on a semi-final spot with a crucial 37-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Sunday. The Delhi bowlers backed up on a splendid batting effort to restrict the visitors to 147-9 to jump into second place in the standings.
Chasing 185, Bangalore were off to a modest start but early wicket of Cameron White pegged them back, as Jacques Kallis and Kevin Pietersen found it hard to get quick runs with the Delhi spinners in operation. Barring Kallis' half-century, Bangalore stumbled with none of their batsmen carrying on.
Amit Mishra and Daniel Vettori pulled Bangalore back in their opening spell, as frustration had the better of Kevin Pietersen who was bowled off Pradeep Sangwan after labouring to a 19-ball 17. But the biggest blow for Bangalore came in the form of Robin Uthappa, who perished in an attempt to push the scoring.
Kallis continued his stunning run of form and Ross Taylor's opening burst had Bangalore back in the reckoning, with the New Zealand batsman taking 20 runs off an Amit Mishra over, before being adjudged leg before off Rajat Bhatia having creamed 22 from 10 balls.
Bangalore slipped thereafter, with Kallis, Virat Kohli and Rahul Dravid falling in quick succession as Delhi wrapped up a convincing victory, following up their victorious outing in Bangalore 10 days ago.
Earlier, Paul Collingwood cracked an unbeaten 74 from just 35 balls as Delhi recovered from frequent setbacks to post a challenging 184-5.
Englishman Collingwood came in to bat with Delhi having lost opener Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir in quick succession, and saw David Warner lose his wicket from the other end. Sehwag got Delhi off to a brisk start with a quickfire 35 before Abhimanyu Mithun ended his stay after the hosts won the toss and decided to bat.
Gautam Gambhir was run out for one, extending his poor run in the tournament following a promising start, but Warner took on the bowlers with a 33-run cameo before his dismissal off Anil Kumble. But Collingwood took charge despite losing regular wickets.
Collingwood hammered three fours and seven massive sixes and was well supported by New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori (19 not out), who was playing his first game for the Daredevils this season.

A bowler makes the difference on a day of carnage

There had to be a loser despite a cracking game of cricket between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. Like their final two years ago, the two teams played out a thrilling tie and despite the agony of defeat, supporters of Rajasthan Royals and the team itself would have left the MA Chidambaram Stadium with their heads held high.
A series of high-scoring ties would indicate the bowlers being subject to torture at tailor-made batting pitches. Even so, this contest had a winner among a profession that scores poorest in T20 cricket.
You wouldn't get to see as many sixes even in your backyard. Murali Vijay enthralled the Chennai crowd with a sensational century, and carried on for 11 huge sixes, no mean feat for someone considered a batsman for the purists. And yet, there was nothing ugly in the right-hander's blistering 127 not out. Despite the early loss of Matthew Hayden, Vijay provided stunning entertainment.
Following up on another blitz is tough for any batsman, but Vijay managed to do just that after a great outing against Royal Challengers Bangalore. He swung through the line, waited on the backfoot for the ones pitched right up, and yet cleared the roped with ease; the highlight being the assault on Shaun Tait.
On a day that belonged to Vijay, it could have been easy to not notice Albie Morkel's vital innings. Not only did he provide exceptional support to Vijay, his return to form comes at a crucial time for the Super Kings, who must maintain their winning streak to advance to the last four. Dhoni's move to promote Morkel to No. 4 worked like a charm for the South African.
If there's one team that makes a fight out of any situation is the Rajasthan Royals. Despite losing early wickets including arguably their most important batsman in Yusuf Pathan, the Royals kept going at the massive target and nearly pulled off a big upset. Even though Shane Watson's return to the bowling line-up didn't make much difference, his presence in the batting line-up was vital.
Royals look a different team altogether when Watson is around. Naman Ojha would be gutted to not have finished on the winning side besides finishing six short of a spectacular century, but all that wouldn't have been possible had a batsman of Shane Watson's experience not been around.
Ojha, another of the classical mould, applied a similar approach to that of Vijay. The right-hander measured the bowling well, and took over the responsibility despite the loss of Michael Lumb's wicket. Watson acted as a calming force, going after the experienced hands in the Chennai line-up while Ojha carried on.
But despite the carnage, the difference between the two sides turned out to be a bowler. Doug Bollinger had only arrived like Watson, but the left-armer bowled with purpose and sting, and gave away just 15 runs besides picking up two wickets, besides the audacious catch to get rid of Yusuf Pathan. The runs that Rajasthan couldn't score off him turned out to be the difference. Remember Robin Uthappa, who tore into Brett Lee on Friday night?

Rampaging Mumbai steamroll Deccan

Mumbai Indians continued their rampage in the IPL by steamrolling Deccan Chargers by 63 runs at the Brabourne Stadium on Saturday. Ambati Rayudu's brisk 29-ball 55 lifted the home side to post a competitive 178-5 before their bowlers stifled the Chargers, bowling them out for a meagre 115 to all but seal their berth in the semi-finals.
Deccan suffered from a shoddy display in the field with several grassed catches and their shocking performance also reflected on their batting. Despite a steady start to their run chase, opener Herschelle Gibbs' downfall opened the floodgates as wickets fell at regular intervals. Plenty of batsmen got off to starts but failed to carry on, with Andrew Symonds top-scoring with 21.
Zaheer Khan, Kieron Pollard and Ryan McLaren picked up two wickets apiece after their opening bowlers choked the batsmen for runs. Gibbs' wicket brought VVS Laxman to the crease, but the batsman departed following a miscommunication with Adam Gilchrist's runner, Ryan McLaren. And when Gilchrist followed him to the pavilion, Deccan had been wobbling at 40-3.
Symonds and Rohit Sharma looked to turn in another rescue act but Sharma was brilliantly caught and bowled by Pollard that sealed Deccan's premature fate. Symonds was cleaned up by McLaren before Mumbai finished off the proceedings with 10 balls to spare.
Earlier, Ambati Rayudu continued a fine run with the bat and was well supported by Saurabh Tiwary (35) after captain Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and elected to bat. The right-hander hit six fours and two sixes in his unbeaten innings as the batsman benefited from a woeful performance from the Deccan Chargers fielders who dropped several catches.
Mumbai were off to a flier thanks to Tendulkar who carried on his superb run, hitting five exquisitely timed boundaries en route his 25-ball 35. The hosts, however, were pegged back by the Deccan spinners led by Pragyan Ojha, who bowled maginificently for figures of 3-26. Leg-spinner Rahul Sharma chipped in with the all-important wicket of Tendulkar.

Super Kings beat Rajasthan Royals by 23 runs

Chennai, April 3 : The Chennai Super Kings beat Rajasthan Royals by 23 runs for their fourth win in nine matches in the Indian Premier League here Saturday.

Opener Murali Vijay (127, 56b, 11x6, 8x4) scored a brilliant century and shared a 152-run partnership with Albie Morkel (62, 34b, 5x6, 3x4) that took the Super Kings to a record 246 for five.

In reply, the Rajasthan Royals put on a spirited fight as Naman Ojha (92 not out, 55b, 6x6, 8x4) and Shane Watson 60 (25b, 5x6, 5x4) took their side close to the target that eventually proved beyond them as they lost wickets at crucial junctures.

The other hero for the Super Kings was left-arm fast bowler Doug Bollinger, playing the game less than 48 hours after flying in from New Zealand. He took two wickets for just 15 runs besides coming up with a spectacular catch to get rid of danger man Yusuf Pathan.

For Rajasthan Royals, it was their fifth defeat in nine matches and second on the trot.