Ken Borland

The mysterious skills of spinner Sunil Narine decided the outcome as the Kolkata Knight Riders snatched an extraordinary 32-run victory over the Mumbai Indians in their Indian Premier League match at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.

 – http://www.supersport.com/cricket/article.aspx?id=1384311

The victory means the Knight Riders join the Delhi Daredevils as the only two teams that are through to the playoffs and, defending just 141, it was thanks to the brilliant efforts of their bowlers in making the ball talk on a helpful surface.

Narine led the way with four for 15 in 3.1 overs and the West Indian is so mysterious that, in a bygone age, his dominance would have been churlishly attributed to ball-tampering, throwing or some other dark art.

With a required run-rate of just 7.05 runs per over, Mumbai were obvious favourites as the experienced duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Herschelle Gibbs strode out to begin the run-chase.

But the tight bowling of seamer Lakshmipathy Balaji up front and the spin trio of Shakib al-Hasan, Narine and Iqbal Abdulla, the latter snaring the wicket of Gibbs, trapped lbw for 13, saw the required rate jump to over eight an over after just a handful of overs.

Tendulkar was happy to just accumulate ones and twos until the ninth over, when he punished Jacques Kallis for a six and a four.

But the glory of dismissing and thoroughly baffling Tendulkar went to Narine as he bowled him for 27 at the end of the 11th over, a fizzing off-break seemingly taking a bit of hand, bat and thigh on its way on to the stumps.

From then on it was like David’s battle against Goliath – except the underdogs didn’t get the divine intervention they needed – as Mumbai required 81 runs off the last nine overs.

Dinesh Karthik scored 21 off 26 balls before his pull shot off Balaji was perfectly placed for Yusuf Pathan to take the catch on the fine leg boundary.

Ambati Rayudu hit left-arm spinner Abdulla out of the park in the 14th over but was then stumped by Brendon McCullum for 11 when he tried to repeat the stroke against the other left-arm spinner in the Kolkata line-up, Bangladesh star Shakib al-Hasan.

Kallis then went to town in the 17th over, proving his all-round worth after a first-ball duck with the bat as he deceived Kieron Pollard (8) with a slower bouncer and then trapped Dwayne Smith lbw with the next delivery for a Caribbean double.

Any semblance of hope then disappeared for Mumbai as Harbhajan Singh, not knowing if Narine’s delivery was spinning in or turning away from him, skied a big hit to long-on.

Narine then spun out Rohit Sharma for 12, McCullum bounding out from behind the stumps to take the catch, and the 23-year-old then wrapped up the win by dismissing Rudra Pratap Singh for three with the first ball of the 20th over, earning himself the Purple Cap in the process.

The Kolkata bowlers would obviously like to put the Mumbai pitch in a box and carry it around India with them because they all thrived.

Apart from Narine, Balaji ended with terrific figures of two for 11 in four overs, Shakib produced a fine performance with one for 25, Abdulla showed his talent with one for 23 and Kallis did the wicket-taking job required of him with two for 32.

The Kolkata Knight Riders had earlier left their supporters cursing what seemed to be a mediocre batting performance as they struggled to 140 for seven.

Many tomes have been written about Kallis, but he was one of the Knight Riders batsmen to fail as he was bowled through the gate by Rudra for a first-ball duck.

In the South African’s defence, however, he errs so seldom and it was a cracking delivery from the left-arm seamer that nipped back off the seam, against the natural angle across the right-hander.

It was a disastrous start for Kolkata after Mumbai captain Harbhajan seemingly made the right decision at the toss and sent them in, McCullum having suffered an awful lbw decision from Subroto Das off the previous delivery from Rudra.

McCullum was well down the pitch, the ball pitched outside leg stump and probably would have gone over or outside off stump, but Subroto sent him on his way for a single.

Captain Gautam Gambhir (27) and Manoj Tiwary (41) brought some respite with a third-wicket stand of 38 in seven overs, but the accurate Mumbai seamers allowed them little leeway.

The Knight Riders had limped to 54 for three at the halfway mark, which finally brought out the strokemaker in Tiwary as he hit two fours and two sixes before falling to the superb Munaf Patel in the 15th over.

The lower-order did come to the party, with Shakib (13), Yusuf Pathan (21*) and Rajat Bhatia (12) all upping the run-rate, while Narine hit two fours off the first four balls he faced at the death.

The Mumbai bowlers held sway, however, with Munaf the best of the bunch with the brilliant figures of one for 17 in four overs.

Rudra finished with two for 33, while Lasith Malinga was unusually in the background as he took one for 32. The medium-pace of the West Indian duo of Pollard (3-0-20-1) and Smith (2-0-8-1) was also impressive on the helpful Wankhede pitch.

The need for trophies and the No 1 Test ranking are driving Imran Tahir at the moment – and he’s heading for Johannesburg and Pakistan as a result.

Tahir announced on Wednesday that, tired of being beaten to the floor with the Dolphins, he will be playing his domestic cricket for the bizhub Highveld Lions from next season. The Lions are obviously delighted to have the services of one of the most successful domestic bowlers of recent times on a one-year contract.

“I want to be around more senior players and with a more successful team, I want to win trophies,” Tahir explained at the Wanderers on Wednesday.

“It’s hard when the team just relies on you – I was bowling 70 to 80 overs a game for the Dolphins, which is too much. It’s good when you’re 24 or 25, but I need more support,” the 33-year-old Tahir said.

“There’s a good environment here and players who can help me like Neil McKenzie, who I played with in Hampshire and we got along very well.”

While Tahir’s home for next summer is now sorted out, the legspinner also announced on Wednesday that he will be returning to Pakistan, the country of his birth, for some inspiration ahead of the winter’s major challenge – the three tests in England that will decide the No 1 ranked team.

The source of this hoped-for inspiration will be Pakistan great Abdul Qadir, the leg-spinning legend who performed miraculous deeds against England, taking 82 wickets in 16 tests against them between 1977 and 1987.

Tahir first sat down with Qadir in 2000 and is looking forward to reuniting with someone who has clearly been a role-model, their whirring actions and desire to bowl every variety of delivery being very similar.

“I did have offers from counties and I actually accepted one from Surrey, which I then turned down, because I’ve been working really hard on my fitness and I’m going to back to Pakistan to get some help from Abdul Qadir. I’m kind of a bowler like him and he’s been really helpful to me before, since the first time I met him in 2000.

“He’s a legend and he can help me big time… I just need to get him out on to the cricket ground because it’s 48 degrees outside!” Tahir said of the 56-year-old who took 236 wickets in 67 tests.

“It’s a very big series against England and if we can win it, it would be something special, one of the biggest achievements in my career.”

The weather in England is typically miserable at the moment and if it stays the same through to South Africa’s arrival in July, then Tahir will face an uphill struggle akin to David’s battle with Goliath on green seamers.

“It’s normally drier in July and August and I hope there’s a good summer for us, it will be harder for me if the pitches are like they are now. But the fact that most tests in England are now going into the fourth or fifth day is good for spinners,” Tahir said.

The exuberant leggie from Lahore tends to charge off around the park whenever he takes a wicket and his celebrations have attracted some unkind words from overseas.

“If I’m playing for my country, I try as hard as I can. I make sure I don’t relax because then I might lose concentration and bowl a bad ball. I like to try too hard!

“I just want to enjoy my cricket and the celebrations just come, I go with the flow. Even in club cricket in England I used to do it… I don’t know if I just lose myself,” Tahir said.

Sit back and enjoy the ride, is probably the best advice for anyone watching Tahir in action as he is the type of bowler who likes to attack and he is not scared to show his personality, which adds to the entertainment value of his mystical art.

The England team and their supporters have certainly been puffed up on airs of self-congratulation and pomposity since their ascension to the No 1 ranking, and Tahir has already been written off as a threat, his figures of just 18 wickets at an average of 37.05 in seven tests being used as justification.

Tahir is not one to trash-talk and he refused to counter with England’s miserable record against spin.

“They had one bad series against Pakistan but I would say they are good players of spin. I wouldn’t say they’re not good against it. We have to respect them to beat them and they are a good team, so it will be a good challenge. I’m sure everyone will be up for it because we want to take their place at No 1,” he said.

What critics of Tahir have conveniently overlooked is that those 18 wickets have come in some of the most pace-friendly conditions imaginable as South Africa hosted tests against Australia and Sri Lanka and they then travelled to the verdant pitches of New Zealand.

“There’ve been five tests in South Africa and three in New Zealand, and maybe one of those pitches took spin, so I had to have defensive fields,” Tahir pointed out.

That Tahir is a threat to even the strongest batting line-ups is borne out by comments made by England star Kevin Pietersen in late 2010 when they played together in the Dolphins team.

“He is in a different league. He spins the ball both ways and he’s got incredible control. If you can spin the ball both ways you get wickets.

“He does bowl the odd bad ball, but if managed properly and given lots of confidence, the man can bowl any team out,” Pietersen said.

Tahir is going to England full of hunger – he is definitely making up for lost time after only graduating to test cricket at the age of 32 – and he also has the knowledge of how to prosper there, having enjoyed successful stints with Middlesex, Yorkshire, Hampshire and Warwickshire between 2003 and 2011.

http://www.supersport.com/cricket/domestic-cricket/news/120516/Tahir_heading_for_Joburg_and_Pakistan

South Africa leg-spinner Imran Tahir is so intent on making an impression against England in their Test series later this year that he turned down lucrative county offers so that he could spend time in Pakistan with the legendary Abdul Qadir.

South Africa visit England in July and August for three Tests in a battle between the number one and two ranked teams on the International Cricket Council’s rankings and the Pakistan-born Tahir is likely to be the leading spinner in a squad that features three of the best pacemen in the world in Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander.

“It’s a very big series against England and if we can win it would be something special, one of the biggest achievements in my career,” Tahir told reporters in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

“I did have offers from counties and I actually accepted one from Surrey, which I then turned down, because I’ve been working really hard on my fitness and I’m going to back to Pakistan to get some help from Abdul Qadir. I’m kind of a bowler like him and he’s been really helpful to me before, since the first time I met him in 2000.

“He’s a legend and he can help me big time … I just need to get him out on to the cricket ground because it’s 48 degrees outside!” Tahir said.

Qadir took 236 wickets in 67 Tests for Pakistan between 1977 and 1990, including 82 in 16 Tests against England.

The 33-year-old Tahir made his Test debut for his adopted country in November and just 18 wickets at an average of 37.05 in seven Tests have led to some English critics writing him off as a threat.

But Tahir pointed out that he has yet to play in a test in helpful conditions.

“There’ve been five Tests in South Africa and three in New Zealand, and maybe one of those pitches took spin, so I had to have defensive fields.”

Tahir, who has played at first-class level for a staggering 18 different teams, said he liked to attack and was unconcerned about criticism that he might try too hard, bowl too many different deliveries in an over or celebrate wickets too exuberantly.

“If I’m playing for my country, I try as hard as I can. I make sure I don’t relax because then I might lose concentration and bowl a bad ball. I like to try too hard!

“I just want to enjoy my cricket and the celebrations just come, I go with the flow. Even in club cricket in England I used to do it … I don’t know if I just lose myself,” Tahir said.

The start of the English season has been marred by terrible weather and Tahir, who has played for Middlesex, Yorkshire, Hampshire and Warwickshire between 2003 and 2011, admitted he hoped for hotter conditions before South Africa arrive.

“It’s normally drier in July and August and I hope there’s a good summer for us, it will be harder for me if the pitches are like they are now. But the fact that most Tests in England are now going into the fourth or fifth day is good for spinners,” Tahir said.

England batsman Kevin Pietersen described Tahir as being “world-class” when they played together in the KZN Dolphins team in 2010.

“He is in a different league. He spins the ball both ways and he’s got incredible control. If you can spin the ball both ways you get wickets.

“He does bowl the odd bad ball, but if managed properly and given lots of confidence, the man can bowl any team out,” Pietersen said.

Ambati Rayudu further pressed his claims for international recognition as he steered the Mumbai Indians to a dramatic five-wicket victory over the Royal Challengers Bangalore in their Indian Premier League match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday.

 – http://www.supersport.com/cricket/indian-premier-league/news/120514/Rayudu_Pollard_snatch_victory_for_Mumbai

Chasing 172, it was Code Red for Mumbai as they slumped to 51 for five in the ninth over. But Rayudu stroked a wonderful 81 not out off 54 balls and, with strong support from Kieron Pollard, who bashed 52 not out off 31 deliveries, Mumbai snuck home with two balls to spare.

Pollard issued a strong warning that Mumbai weren’t giving up the chase as he hammered left-arm spinner KP Appanna for two sixes to end the 11th over. But the momentum was broken by a 12-minute delay after one of the four banks of floodlights failed – with the visitors facing defeat on the Duckworth/Lewis method if they couldn’t be restarted timeously.

Once play resumed, Rayudu and Pollard ensured that the result was in their hands and not left to any calculations as they extended their marvellous unbeaten partnership to 122 off 65 balls.

Their fiery approach saw off-spinner Chris Gayle’s darts being belted for 25 runs in two overs, while 16 runs came off Zaheer Khan’s 17th over that was really disappointing given the left-arm paceman’s wealth of experience.

But the 18th over was where Bangalore really lost the match. With Mumbai still needing 41 runs off 18 balls, Vinay Kumar bowled just where Rayudu likes it – outside off stump – and the 26-year-old blasted two sixes and a four.

That left 23 runs needed off the last two overs and Zaheer conceded nine off the penultimate over. Gayle then returned to defend 14 runs off the final over and could only cuss as Pollard smashed two fours and a six as Mumbai gatecrashed the party and stole an amazing victory.

Mumbai were in disarray at the start as the “infallible” Sachin Tendulkar was out first ball, dismissed by Zaheer thanks to captain Virat Kohli’s systematic field placing and his own sharp catch above his head at a short cover-point.

Three balls later, Herschelle Gibbs (2) was run out as he failed to focus on his running and was caught unawares by KP Appanna’s strong arm from the boundary.

Bangalore were especially pleased to remove Rohit Sharma, the scorer of a brilliant century in his last match, for just five in the fourth over as the batsman presented Vinay with an easy return catch.

Rayudu then joined Dinesh Karthik and the pair added 25 for the fourth wicket off 4.1 overs before Karthik (16) failed to make full contact on a sweep off Muttiah Muralitharan, Harshal Patel running around the backward square-leg boundary to take the catch.

The Royal Challengers were firmly in control when the impressive Harshal had Dwayne Smith caught at backward point for six, but the other West Indian in the Mumbai Indians team, big bad Pollard, then stepped up to the plate.

The skill of Rayudu and the power of Pollard combined perfectly as Mumbai snatched victory in the death overs.

The best bowlers for the Royal Challengers were the ones who bowled in the middle overs – Harshal (4-0-25-1) and Muralitharan (4-0-16-1).

Agarwal had earlier lifted the Bangalore Royal Challengers to 171 for six after they had been sent in to bat.

Overcast weather, a tinge of green on the pitch and plenty of moisture about after a 50-minute rain delay were the causes of Mumbai captain Harbhajan Singh’s decision, which paid off as the home side crashed to 47 for three.

The king of T20 batsmen, Gayle, was out of character and feeling for the ball, eventually dragging a Munaf Patel delivery back into his stumps to be bowled for six.

Kohli (3) will feel let down by opener Tillakaratne Dilshan after a mix-up saw the captain run out, but it was mostly thanks to a brilliant piece of fielding by South African Gibbs, who recalled his heyday by diving full-length at backward point to intercept a Dilshan cut and then showed great awareness to throw to bowler Munaf to complete the dismissal.

A rash of extras from Munaf – he bowled three no-balls and a wide in his third over- helped a little partnership develop between Dilshan and Saurabh Tiwary (21), the pair adding 36 before being separated by a dismissal you don’t see very often.

Tiwary went back to off-spinner Harbhajan, playing the ball into the leg side, but he then took another step backwards and trod on his middle stump, being dismissed hit wicket.

AB de Villiers for once didn’t come off, but his innings of 14 was important in stabilising the innings as he and Dilshan added 40 off 30 balls for the fourth wicket before Lasith Malinga took a sharp catch at deep extra cover after the South African had been duped by a Pollard slower ball.

Dilshan was not entirely convincing as he scored 47 off 50 balls before the innings came alive at the death thanks to Agarwal’s brisk intervention.

Dilshan’s dismissal, bowled by a Rudra Pratap Singh full toss, left the Challengers on a mediocre 133 for five in the 18th over, but Agarwal then took over.

The exciting 21-year-old prospect was up to the challenge posed by the great Malinga, hitting him for a four and a six as 13 runs came off the 19th over.

Agarwal then upped the ante in the final over as he rocketed Bangalore to a challenging total.

The dismal Munaf’s first ball was a full toss which was dispatched over long-off for six; a superb square-drive for four off the second delivery brought up Agarwal’s maiden IPL half-century off just 26 balls. The third ball was another full toss which was hit to long-off for four, before Agarwal hit another six over midwicket to finish with a haul of 24 runs off the final over.

Agarwal hit six fours and four sixes in all to mark himself as one of India’s brightest batting talents, taking Bangalore to a competitive total.

The hapless Munaf, whose third over was the longest in IPL history, was plundered for 44 runs in his last two overs and was also poor in the field.

The left-armer, Rudra, was the best of the Mumbai bowlers with one for 23 in his four overs, while the seam of Malinga (4-0-29-0), Pollard (3-0-20-1) and Smith (2-0-10-0) was also effective in keeping the run-rate down.