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.

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.

Herschelle Gibbs returned to Indian Premier League action and the manner in which he did so suggests the South African veteran could have a key role to play for the Mumbai Indians as the playoffs rapidly approach.

Gibbs played his first game of this year’s IPL competition last week, having sat out due to a combination of a broken finger and Mumbai preferring James Franklin and Richard Levi, but if people thought the 38-year-old’s T20 career was on the wane, he quickly disabused them of the notion with a well-considered 66 not off 58 balls against the high-flying Kolkata Knight Riders.

The Western Cape star played the perfect supporting role to Rohit Sharma, who made a sensational century, as they added 167 off 106 deliveries for the second wicket, the third highest partnership in IPL history.

With Gibbs back to form a dangerous opening partnership with Sachin Tendulkar, Mumbai now seem to have the batting to back up their powerful bowling attack and you would have to tip them as one of the favourites for the title.

It was another satisfactory week in terms of South African performances in the IPL, with lanky fast bowler Morne Morkel still top of the pole in terms of wickets taken.

Morkel locked down top spot by taking two wickets in three matches, although the Delhi Daredevils spearhead did go for more runs than he has previously, with figures of 1-35 against Kolkata, 1-32 against the Chargers and 0-31 against Chennai.

His brother Albie made an impressive return to action for the Super Kings after going home for Louis Vorster’s funeral, hitting two towering sixes as he lashed 18 not out off six balls as the defending champions beat the Rajasthan Royals in an exciting finish. He has also settled back nicely into his role of new-ball bowler, providing good support for Ben Hilfenhaus with figures of 0-19 in three overs against the Royals and 1-15 in four overs against the lethal Delhi Daredevils top-order.

Jacques Kallis continues to perform, without any airs or graces, for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

He starred with the bat in the loss to the Mumbai Indians, scoring 79 off 60 balls, although 40 runs would come off his four overs.

Kallis bowled superbly against the Delhi Daredevils, however, removing deadly openers David Warner and Virender Sehwag and conceding just 20 runs in his four overs, before scoring 30 off 27 balls in the succcessful run-chase and winning the man of the match award.

It would be an extremely frustrating week for South Africa’s other two major stars at the IPL – AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis.

Because he is inexplicably being batted so low by the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the marvellously in-form De Villiers would bat just once in his two matches and face just four balls, scoring nine not out.

Du Plessis did not play for the Super Kings last week due to illness and would like to climb back up the run-scorer’s table after initially holding the Orange Cap but now slipping down to 11th place.

Dale Steyn returned to action for the Deccan Chargers after a foot niggle and tried his best to deny the Punjab Kings XI victory in their thriller at Mohali, but his outstanding figures of 2-26 in four overs were not supported at the other end.

Off-spinner Johan Botha also returned to action and fine form for the Rajasthan Royals, bowling 12 overs for just 73 runs and taking three wickets, sending him into the top 15 of the most economical bowlers who have delivered at least 25 overs.

Other South African performances: Wayne Parnell – 2* & 2-0-12-1 Pune Warriors v Rajasthan Royals; David Miller – 28* off 18 balls Punjab Kings XI v Deccan Chargers; Juan Theron – 4-0-29-0 & 7* Deccan Chargers v Punjab Kings XI; JP Duminy – 13* off 9 balls Deccan Chargers v Delhi Daredevils; Alfonso Thomas – 4-0-46-0 & 7 Pune Warriors v Bangalore Royal Challengers; Roelof van der Merwe – 3-0-17-0 Delhi Daredevils v Chennai Super Kings.

Did not play: Marchant de Lange (KKR), Robin Peterson (MI), Faf du Plessis (CSK), Richard Levi (MI), Gulam Bodi (DD), Kyle Abbott (PK), Davey Jacobs (MI), Charl Langeveldt (BRC), Rilee Rossouw (BRC).

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

The Kolkata Knight Riders were hard-pressed to match Rohit Sharma’s sensational century and they subsided to a 27-run defeat at the hands of the Mumbai Indians in their Indian Premier League match at Eden Gardens on Saturday.

 – http://www.supersport.com/cricket/article.aspx?id=1378591

Rohit’s dazzling 109 not out off just 60 balls left Kolkata with a daunting target of 183 and they could only manage 155 for four.

As much as Rohit’s innings took the match away from the Knight Riders, the Mumbai bowlers were all disciplined and accurate, with the batsmen particularly unable to crack the code of Lasith Malinga (4-0-27-0) and Kieron Pollard (4-0-29-1).

Kolkata also got off to the worst of starts as they crashed to three for two in the second over.

Munaf Patel picked up the key wicket of Gautam Gambhir when he bowled him for a duck, while Manvinder Bisla (1) top-edged a slog-sweep off left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and was caught by Munaf.

The innings obviously needed rebuilding, but the steady increase of the required run-rate was also a major problem for the Knight Riders.

Jacques Kallis, being the great professional that he is, refused to give in, however, as fought valiantly for his 79 off 60 balls. But, on a slow pitch and against a softening ball, he was unable to reproduce the explosiveness of Rohit and was forced to attempt various innovations he would barely have tried in practice.

Kallis shared a partnership of 57 in 8.2 overs with Manoj Tiwary (27), which lifted Kolkata’s hopes but ultimately he and Yusuf Pathan were left with too much to do at the end.

Malinga’s incredible ability to find the blockhole prescribes that batsmen are limited to ones and twos against him and Pollard also ensured that there would be no late dramatics as he trapped Tiwary lbw and bowled two overs for 11 runs at the death.

Pathan produced an innings of 40 not out off 31 balls that was a welcome relief to him individually after a wretched run of form but not nearly enough to change the news that Mumbai have now jumped into third place on the log.

SECOND FIDDLE

With Rohit in prime form and Herschelle Gibbs back to form a dangerous opening partnership with Sachin Tendulkar, Mumbai now have the batting to back up their powerful bowling attack and must be considered one of the favourites for the title.

Mumbai will also be delighted with their all-round bowling effort as pace bowlers Munaf (4-0-32-1) and Dwayne Smith (4-0-32-1) backed up Malinga and Pollard well.

The brilliance of Rohit carried the Mumbai Indians to a daunting 182 for one as he played one of the innings of the tournament as he belted his highest T20 score. The 25-year-old’s tremendous talent was obvious as he stroked 12 fours and five sixes.

The match also marked the return of Gibbs to IPL action and the veteran scored a well-considered 66 not off 58 balls, playing the perfect supporting role to Rohit as they added 167 off 106 deliveries for the second wicket.

The Mumbai Indians had won the toss and elected to bat first with the conditions not expected to get any better for the batsmen, and the Knight Riders struck an early blow when Shakib al-Hasan removed Tendulkar for two in the third over.

The Little Master was drawn forward to drive, but the left-arm spinner managed to get enough away movement from a quicker delivery to beat the bat and sharp wicketkeeper Bisla had the bails off in a flash.

Gibbs took three beautiful off-side boundaries off Brett Lee’s first over, but Rohit quickly marked himself as the star of the show. He hit Shakib for two fours and a six in his third over and had drawn level with Gibbs on 24 as Mumbai reached 50 off 37 balls.

Hitting boundaries to all points of the compass, Rohit raced to his half-century off 29 balls.

Kolkata’s bowlers looked powerless as Rohit had a shot for every ball, but mystery spinner Sunil Narine has baffled most batsmen in this tournament and Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir really should have bowled the West Indian against him for more than just one over in the first half of his innings.

Gibbs by this stage had committed himself to playing second fiddle and he fed Rohit the strike well as the duo raised their century partnership off 71 deliveries.

Rohit conquered Eden Gardens itself as this is just the third century scored on the famous ground’s slow pitch, the Indian prospect going to his maiden T20 hundred as he pushed Lee to midwicket for a rare single off his 52nd ball.

Gibbs went to his fifty, off 48 deliveries, off the next delivery as Mumbai went to 156 for one after 17 overs. But they managed to score just 26 runs off the last three overs as Lee and Kallis conceded just 12 runs in the last two overs.

The spinners, Shakib (4-0-27-1) and Narine (4-0-28-0) were the best of the Kolkata bowlers in the face of the third highest partnership in IPL history. The record is held by Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh, who added 206 for the second wicket for the Punjab Kings XI against Bangalore in Dharamsala last year.

David Warner and Naman Ojha added an unbroken 189 for the second wicket for the Delhi Daredevils against the Deccan Chargers in Hyderabad just two days ago.