CSK clinically win to expose MI’s flaws at Wankhede

MI had a winning streak of 10 matches at the Wankhede Stadium that was broken by CSK’s win yesterday on May 10, 2014 in match 33 of IPL 7. In reply to MI’s 157 for 6 CSK made 160 for 6 to win at Wankhede by four wickets. Man of the match Dwayne Smith made 57 off 49 balls and Dhoni finished off the Saturday prime-time IPL match with a big hit in the final over when 11 were needed before wrapping up the victory with three balls to spare. The last time MI lost an IPL game at the Wankhede Stadium was back in 2012. CSK were cruising to victory when the outstanding Lasith Malinga produced another superb 19th over to drag MI back into the game. R Ashwin was the pick of the CSK bowlers picking up three wickets for 30 runs in his four overs. While CSK played Samuel Badree, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, MI’s spin department featured only Harbhajan Singh. It was MI’s Ambati Rayudu who shrugged off a lean form to anchor the MI innings with a half-century to his credit. It was questionable as to why Rohit Sharma came in only towards the end of the 12th over, Kieron Pollard in the 18th and Corey Anderson even later. Super Kings looked to be in control for much of the chase, helped along by a superb Dwayne Smith half-century. Brendon McCullum was sent home though the ball was clearly headed down the leg side, the third umpire decided Suresh Raina was stumped though the replays suggested otherwise and lastly in the 17th over by Malinga, Jadeja caught dead in front of the stumps was declared not out. There was an array of astonishing boundary catches and drops that proved more fatal for MI than good. Mithun Manhas put down a sitter at long-on, Harbhajan Singh misjudged the line and could only get one hand on a midwicket six at a crucial juncture of the chase, Samuel Badree judged the ball perfectly at third man but could only push the ball over for six and Jadeja caught the ball at deep midwicket but failed to let the ball go before crossing the line. CSK won the toss and chose to field first. MI opened Lendl Simmons making his IPL debut, was accompanied with CM Gautam. Gautam left on 9 in the third over off the bowling of Badree who made his debut for CSK. At the halfway stage the scorecard for MI read 57...

Maxwell’s scintillating spell aides KXIP to net CSK again

Man of the match KXIP’s Glenn Maxwell scored a stupendous 90 off 38 balls in Cuttack that helped KXIP to set a colossal target of 231 for 4 to put match 29 beyond the reach of CSK. Ultimately the men in yellow of CSK succumbed to yield a 44 run victory for KXIP, their second over CSK in IPL 7. It has taken seven years of IPL for another favorite team for the crowds to emerge who are used to seeing this kind of charisma only from CSK. For CSK it hardly matters whether they bat first or last, whether they are facing a strong team or weak team and even if many of their players are not in great form, winning has virtually been their agenda at IPL. KXIP are now set to displace them as the new IPL favorites. Each match from the KXIP players has been a thumping win and leading the King’s brigade is none other than Glenn Maxwell, who is also the current Orange Cap holder of IPL 7, having amassed the most runs. Maxwell’s swinging willow left nothing out of his reach and with every incredible hit of his bat the ball simply disappeared over the ropes. KXIP batting first posted an insurmountable total of 231 for four in their 20 overs that could not be breached even by the best team in the IPL business CSK. CSK could only manage 187 for six with Maxwell being the leading factor for their loss. Virender Sehwag and Mandeep Singh stated the KXIP innings when CSK Captain put them to bat after having won the toss. The partnership yielded runs at a brisk pace due to Sehwag and ended swiftly as Mohit Sharma struck in the fifth over to get rid of Mandeep Singh on 3 leaving KXIP on 33 for one. Sehwag was dismissed on 30 comprising of 5 fours and a maximum by Ben Hilfenhaus in the sixth over. Glenn Maxwell and David Miller together unleashed the most glittering hitting after the KXIP innings steadied at 69 for two after 10 overs. The 12th over by R Ashwin yielded 21 runs also culminating in Maxwell’s half-century. The 13th over from Ishwar Pandey went for 18 runs. The 150 for KXIP came up in the 15th over. Then Dwayne Smith bowling the 16th over after having conceding 20 runs off his first five balls picked up Miller’s wicket on 47. The partnership for the third-wicket stand for KXIP was for a gigantic 135 runs...

Daredevils are shredded by mighty CSK

Dwayne Smith took charge of his team CSK against a mammoth DD target of 178 to register another commanding win by 8 wickets with two balls to spare in match 26 of Pepsi IPL 7. Smith’s innings of 79 was carved out with the help of four 4s and eight 6s off 51 balls to earn the man of the match award. CSK who have got a winning habit in IPL made this edition no different as their incredible players made short work of a difficult target to totally disintegrate Pietersen’s DD. The men in yellow played as if they were destined to win wearing their confident attitude like badges. Smith during his blinder of an innings was supported by Brendon McCullum and Suresh Raina in phases of the run-chase. The only blemish in Dwayne Smith’s innings was that he could not hit the winning runs as he got out in the 19th over leaving it on the able shoulders of his captain MS Dhoni who almost never fails as a finisher. Brendon McCullum and Smith’s onslaught left the DD bowlers clueless and fielders messy. Their opening stand put together 82 runs in 11.2 overs. McCullum left after scoring 32 being caught by Vijay off Shukla near the long-on boundary. Suresh Raina and Smith continued their flourishing act that not only put CSK on course for a win but took the thrill out of the match that became very predictable. As a result, CSK cruised to 127 for the loss of 1 wicket after 15 overs. A miserly 16th over by Jaydev Unadkat yielding only 5 runs put DD in contention for a win as a downpour stopped play bringing in the possibility of the Duckworth-Lewis Method coming into play. By stroke of luck if the D/L method had come into play at that point DD would have won by one run. However to CSK’s good fortune play resumed and MS Dhoni who came at the fall of Smith struck a six and the winning four in the last over to take his team home with two balls to spare. Raina remained unbeaten on 47 at the other end. MS Dhoni upon winning the toss had invited DD to bat first. DD openers once again failed to capitalize on the initial momentum granted by opener Quinton de Kock, 24 from 16 balls. Murali Vijay and de Kock had an unfortunate mix-up in the fifth over that cost the later his wicket as he could not make his ground while...

CSK bulldoze a shaky KKR to win match 21

CSK charged to a thumping win over KKR by 34 runs at Ranchi in the opening encounter of the Indian leg of the Pepsi IPL 7 in match 21. CSK Captain MS Dhoni had won the toss to bat first at his home ground in a rain delayed game where the contest was reduced to 17 overs for each side. Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum gave the CSK innings another thunderous beginning that put the sound of a brewing storm and splashing rain to shame. However Smith’s game culminated after just a few big shots on 16 as he was trapped leg before wicket by Shakib Al Hasan in the third over. Suresh Raina and McCullum took the entire responsibility of setting up a challenging target for KKR upon their shoulders and fulfilled it with flair. The CSK total stood at 85 for 1 after 10 overs were bowled by KKR. Suresh Raina scored a short 31 before getting out to a Shakib stunner. McCullum however was in full swing and finished on 56 on an Andre Russell ball in the 15th over. The 100 of the CSK innings came in the 12th over itself due to the electrifying atmosphere created by the power hitting of McCullum. Lastly an unbeaten 22 by Dhoni and unbeaten 17 from the willow of Ravindra Jadeja hauled the CSK total to a more formidable 148 for the loss of three wickets at the end of the innings. KKR had simply no answer to the invincible target set up by the men in yellow, CSK. They tumbled to 114 for 9 in their allocated 17 overs to lose another match. Ravindra Jadeja had excellent figures of 4-0-12-4 while Mohit Sharma showed 3-0-22-3 to curb KKR and aid CSK to another fulfilling and morale boosting win. KKR opener Robin Uthappa began well as a solid innings had been awaited from him while KKR Captain Gautam Gambhir’s pie again crumbled on 6 being run out in the second over. Uthappa scored 47 runs, promptly hit out at anything even remotely loose sent down by the CSK bowlers dispatching them to the fence with much panache. He had a dearth of partners as no other KKR batsmen either had the intention or could survive at the other end. Jacques Kallis went for 4 claimed by Ashwin in the fifth over. Then Jadeja had two wickets from two consecutive balls to send back in form KKR batsmen Manish Pandey on 1 and Shakib Al Hasan without scoring to...

CSK’s clinical win against SRH in match 17

CSK for whom winning is more a habit proved it against SRH winning a last over thriller on Sunday, April 27, 2014 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah. CSK it seems are back into the groove with the heat off them about the hounding allegations of the IPL 6 scam that had almost nullified the team from participating in IPL 7. SRH won the toss and chose to bat first. SRH Captain Shikhar Dhawan got out after scoring only 7 in the third over of the innings off the bowling of Ben Hilfenhaus. David Warner failed to get off the mark to become Hilfenhaus’ second victim in the space of three balls. Aaron Finch and Lokesh Rahul joined hands to commence a partnership with the SRH scoreboard displaying a dismal 15 for two. They stitched together a 52 run stand in almost the same number of deliveries before Rahul departed on 25 as Dwayne Smith claimed his wicket in the 11th over. Finch and Venugopal Rao, 13 carried forward the innings. A devastating spell of Mohit Sharma left SRH tottering in the 15th over at 98 for the loss of 4 valuable wickets. Finch scored 44 became Mohit Sharma’s next scalp in the 18th over. Now it was up to Darren Sammy who made an unbeaten 23 and Karn Sharma with an unbeaten 17 to take SRH places. However there was not much Sammy could do as very few balls were left from SRH’s quota of overs. These two together piled on 36 runs in the two remaining overs. The best shot of the innings came from Karn Sharma who smashed Hilfenhaus for a gigantic six over square leg to leave all gaping in surprise in the 19th over. He then repeated the same act on the off side for another maximum hit in the very next ball. Sammy hit a maximum in the final over of the innings but left the ground shaking his head as if wishing he had some more balls to play for his team so that to put forward a better target for the reputable CSK to chase. Due to this onslaught SRH reached a modest 145 for five in their allotted 20 overs. The CSK bowlers Hilfenhaus and Mohit Sharma picked two wickets each with Ashwin allowing only 17 runs of his four overs. CSK who are habitual winners and excel in both chasing and setting targets got off to a fabulous start with Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum in smacking form....