Swati Rao | 22 April 2010

 

Heading into the second semi-final, the Deccan Chargers (DC) had been winning matches on the trot and were keen to carry on their winning streak. Their opponents, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), thanks to an inspiring innings from Dhoni, had forced their way into the semi-finals. With both teams high on talent, it was to be a real test for the captains, both of whom have been in IPL finals before and know what it takes to get there. Whoever won this match would have been the only team to reach the final twice.

 

CSK started off poorly on a rather testing pitch with swing and turn. Hayden, who has not clicked so far in the tournament, got out early. Vijay and Raina followed, leaving CSK reeling at 29-3.  Dhoni and Badri got their act together to save CSK from a collapse, but even Dhoni could not last long. Wickets kept falling and eventually, at the end of 20 overs, CSK had amassed only 142 runs. Aniruddh, in the end, made a brief but valuable contribution.

 

CSK's score looked meagre and easily achievable, but DC's opening batsmen struggled to get going. Suman, who has played well in this tournament, could not do much; Ashwin and Bollinger bowled very well to ensure that runs were hard to get and wickets fell often. Symonds and Sharma put up low scores and, when Symonds got out, it was clear that the chase was over. Chennai's fielding performance was extraordinary and helped them seal the fate of this match and march into the final. The man of the match was undoubtedly Bollinger for his 4-13.

 

This is the second time CSK has been in final, and this time Dhoni will be determined to end IPL 3 on a winning note.

Swati Rao | 21 April 2010

 

The Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are two very strong teams and it was hoped that this would be the final match, rather than a semi. But, as luck would have it, RCB had a tough second set of matches and barely scraped through to this stage in the tournament.

 

On the day, MI started off on the wrong foot, losing Sachin and Dhawan early on. Nayar and Rayadu then consolidated, although at one stage it looked like they would make little more than 150. But Tiwary and Rayadu put up a good partnership, and Pollard followed with some brilliant shots, to take MI to 184. Bangalore, who had started their bowling on a very positive note, lost their plan mid-way and ended up giving away too many runs, a case in point being Kumble, bowling an over with two no-balls, in a very uncharacteristic style.

 

As always, RCB boasted a very strong batting line-up with solid batsmen, stroke players and power hitters: 184 for their team was not too tall a task. RCB sprung a surprise, sending out the in-form Dravid and their highest run scorer, Kallis, to open. And it nearly went all wrong from the start: Kallis got out early on, and Tendulkar caught a good catch off Dravid, but it was grounded and not counted. But Bangalore failed to capitalise: they kept losing wickets, and then Dravid, once again in this tournament, was run out. Pollard picked up three wickets and Harbhajan two; Bhajji was expensive, thanks to Uthapa hitting him for sixes. In the end, the Mumbai bowling proved to be too incisive and RCB faltered on more than one occasion and eventually lost the tie.

 

Pollard was adjudged the man of the match. With this win, MI marches to the final. They have been deserving all through the tournament with their superior performances, and it is a delight to see Sachin at the helm for Mumbai. Let us hope his injured finger heals before the next match!

Match	56
Date	19 April 2010
Ground	Kolkata
Home team	KKR
Away team	MI
Result	KKR won by 9 wickets

Swati Rao | 19 April 2010

 

For this match against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the Mumbai Indians (MI) chose to rest all their key players, including Tendulkar, in whose absence Bravo led the team. KKR, needing to win by a huge margin, were looking for a victory to salvage their lost pride.

MI won the toss and chose to bat, and the remote chances that KKR held of making the semis see,ed to dwindle. But with several in-form Mumbai players being rested and first-timers being given a chance, MI were in a state of chaos. Duminy struggled against all the key KKR bowlers and this ensured that the scorecard wasn't ticking much. Rayadu played a quick fire 27 and Tiwary a solid 46 to take MI to 133.

KKR steadily chased the target: with only a slight chance of making the semis, they ensured that there were no silly shots, which would turn the in-sight victory to defeat. Ganguly and McCulum put up a good partnership, ensuring KKR cruised towards victory. McCullum with his 57 was unbeaten till the end.

Karthik was adjudged the man of the match for his four wickets, but although KKR won this match, they are still out of the semi-finals.

Swati Rao | 18 April 2010

 

The day's first match was a must-win for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to ensure their semi-final spot. The location, Dharamsala, was definitely a great relief for Chennai, who have suffered hot and humid home matches.

 

Their opponents, the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), started off well at the crease, with Marsh and Sangakkara playing smoothly. Sangakkara looked in fine form until his dismissal, at which point Marsh picked up and played a brilliant innings of 88. Irfan provided him with able company and together they reached 192. The CSK bowlers could do very little to stop Punjab, and the last five overs in particular were very expensive.

 

CSK started off their innings by losing Hayden early on. Murali lasted little longer and it was left to Raina and Badrinath to consolidate. Powar bowled briiliantly for KXIP and kept CSK on a leash for some time. However, Raina and Badri played brilliantly to take CSK to a position from where winning was difficult, but not impossible. Dhoni came in to bat and proved just why he is the best finisher: he played off Theron in the penultimate over, hitting him for two fours and then negotiating the next difficult balls. Needing 16 off the last over from Pathan, Dhoni made it look like a cake-walk, with a four and sixes.

 

With their win, CSK moved up to second spot, thanks to Man of the Match Dhoni.

The stakes of the the second match of the day, between the Delhi Daredevils (DD) and Deccan Chargers (DC), could not have been higher: whoever won was guaranteed a place in the semi-finals, while the loser would be out of the tournament.

 

The Kotla pitch was slow and favoured the spinners and, at first, Delhi's bowling was top-notch, as they picked up wickets at regular intervals and restricted the DC run-flow. But then Symonds took control of the situation, hittng some brilliant shots with a quick-fire 54 off 30 balls. However, after his dismissal, DD conceded just 14 runs in four overs and eventually DC had put up 145, which few thought was a defendable score, in light of DD's strong batting line-up.

In a bad start for Delhi's innings, Warner and Sehwag were dismissed without many runs on the board, and when Dilshan, Gambhir and, most importantly, Karthik were sent back to the pavilion, Delhi's hopes of chasing were almost over. Reeling at 86-7, this was the most shocking display of batting that DD had produced. All credit was due to the DC bowlers, who bowled brilliantly and fielded superbly to ensure that DD were held back. Collingwood and Nehra showed some resistance and gave Delhi hope for a victory, but it was too late and too big a task for the pair. Vaas and Ojha's bowling in particular were the pick of the Deccan bunch.

 

With this result, DC have been catapulted into second, CSK are now third and the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) fourth. The Kolkata Knight Riders have an opportunity to topple RCB from their semi-final spot if they win against the Mumbai Indians by a heavy margin of almost 140 runs.