Thursday 17 April 2014

IPL 7 2nd match: Royal challenger bangalore vs Delhi Daredevils

A thumping victory by Bangalore to kick-start their campaign. Second straight one-sided match of the tournament though. 

A convincing victory for Bangalore and that too without Chris Gayle. They lost Maddinson early, but the launch pad was provided by Parthiv Patel. He made sure that the run-rate did not dip at any stage of the chase. Kohli was strangely off-colour today, but he could take his time to settle down. He was dropped twice on 23 and 24, and made sure that Dehi pay. On the other hand, the much maligned Yuvraj Singh started shakily, grew in confidence as his innings progressed before finishing it off in style. For Delhi, the bowling barring Mohammad Shami was ordinary and the fielding and catching was shoddy.

Yuvraj Singh struck form with a brilliant unbeaten half century as Royal Challengers Bangalore crushed Delhi Daredevils by eight wickets in their IPL campaign opener in Sharjah on Thursday.

Yuvraj (52 not out) shared 84 runs with captain Virat Kohli (49 not out) for the unconquered third wicket as RCB chased down the target of 146 with 20 balls to spare at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Yuvraj, who received criticism from some quarters for his slow batting in India's loss against Sri Lanka in the recent World T20 in Bangladesh, began tentatively but came to his own later as he hit three fours and five sixes in his 29-ball unbeaten knock.

Kohli, who was adjudged player of the tournament in the World Twenty20 for top-scoring with 319 runs, continued with his top form in T20 though he was dropped twice -- on 23 and 24.

He hit two fours and three sixes in his 38-ball unconquered innings. The duo competed in hitting fours and sixes towards the end of their run chase after opener Parthiv Patel had done well at the top of the innings with a 28-ball 37 which was studded with five fours and a six.

RCB left out Chris Gayle due to a back problem but made a strong start though they lost IPL debutant Nic Maddinson (4), the young opener from Australia, in the second over. Parthive Patel and captain Kohli eased off the pressure of the early jolt with some sensible batting. The duo's 50-run partnership came at the eighth over from just 5.5 overs with Patel finding more boundaries than his captain.

Patel hit five fours and a six while Kohli could get just one boundary in the 50-run stand. Patel perished while trying to play shots, too many than required, with leg-spinner Rahul Sharma cleaning him up as RCB were reduced to 62 for two in the ninth over.

Next-man in, Yuvraj looked tentative in the beginning but hit some lusty blows to ease off pressure. Kohli was let off on 23 and 24 in the space of five balls in the 13th over, the unfortunate bowler being Wayne Parnell, by IPL debutant Jimmy Neesham and Mayank Agarwal respectively.

Kohli and Yuvraj responded with a six each off Neesham to shrug off the let off by taking 15 runs in the 14th over. The Kohli-Yuvraj duo then decided to end the contest quickly as the duo took 20 runs from 15th over bowled by Rahul Sharma.

Kohli smashed two sixes while Yuvraj hit a maximum to add to the misery of Rahul who bled 33 runs from his three overs though he took a wicket. Yuvraj brought up his first IPL fifty for RCB in the 17th over as RCB sealed the win in their opening game against DD in IPL 7.

Earlier, Delhi Daredevils found themselves in tatters before Jean-Paul Duminy's brilliant unbeaten half century took them to a decent 145 for four in their IPL campaign opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Sharjah.

Put into bat, the Daredevils were reduced to 35 for four in the eighth over with their top order batsmen coming a cropper before Duminy (67 not out) and Ross Taylor (43 not out) shared 110-runs for the unbroken fifth wicket stand at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

The duo built the innings by grafting for runs initially before opening up towards the end. Duminy especially slogged at the death overs as he hit a six off Yuvraj Singh and two maximums off Ashok Dinda. Coming together at 35 for four, the pair added 96 runs in the second 10 overs after the Daredevils could score just 49 for four at the halfway mark due to the initial jolts.

The last five wickets yielded 63 runs with Duminy and Taylor scoring 14, 13 and 17 from the final three overs. Duminy, the more aggressive of the duo, hit four boundaries and three sixes in his 48-ball unbeaten knock while Taylor smashed four boundaries in his 39-ball unconquered innings.

For RCB, Mitchell Starc, Albie Morkel, Varun Aaron and Yuzvendra Chahal took a wicket each. RCB captain Virat Kohli opted to bowl after winning the toss and straightaway put the Daredevils in tatters by scalping their top three batsmen in the space of just eight balls between third and fifth overs.

Opener Mayank Aggarwal (6), captain Dinesh Karthik (0) and Manoj Tiwari (1) made brief appearances at the crease before they fell to Starc, Morkel and Aaron respectively as the Daredevils were reduced to 17 for three in the fifth over.

The other opener Murali Vijay (18) was though shaping up well as he smashed a huge six off Starc and then a four off Morkel before he also perished without contributing much. Young Haryana leg-spinner Chahal, debuting for RCB in IPL, bowled him with a beauty as the ball straightened after pitching to knock down Vijay's off-stump as the Daredevils found themselves in dire straits at 35 for 4.

The responsibility of taking Daredevils to a respectable total was left to Taylor and Duminy and the duo grafted for runs before opening up later on to take Daredevils score to 145 for four.

DD came into this game without their star player and skipper Kevin Pietersen as he suffered a finger-injury. In his absence, wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik led the DD side. RCB too missed Chris Gayle due to an injury. 
 
Yuvraj Singh was under a lot of pressure following his display in the ICC World T20 final. He struggled in the beginning but as he settled down, he demolished the DD attack to guide RCB to a victory.

Teams:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Parthiv Patel, Nick Maddinson, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, AB de Villiers, Albie Morkel, Mitchell Starc, Sachin Rana, Varun Aaron, Ashok Dinda, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Delhi Daredevils: Mayank Agarwal, Murali Vijay, Dinesh Karthik, Manoj Tiwary, JP Duminy, Ross Taylor, Jimmy Neesham, Wayne Parnell, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mohammad Shami, Rahul Sharma.




 

match # 1 : KKR vs MI- review

The inaugural match of this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) between the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) produced a number of fascinating statistics. While the Kolkata fans had plenty to cheer about in the end, the Mumbai fans had their moments as well.

Read on to find out who completed 1000 runs, who became the quickest to 50 IPL wickets, who got his 16th Man of the Match award in the IPL, and others in this list compiled by ndtv.com.

# Sunil Narine is the only Kolkata bowler to produce five instances of four wickets or more in an innings at the IPL.

# Narine became the first KKR bowler to complete 50 wickets in IPL. Narine’s tally of 50 wickets (ave.13.88) in 32 matches is also the quickest in IPL.

# Jacques Kallis (72 off 46 balls) posted his 17th fifty at the IPL. His aggregate of 2348 (ave.29.35) in 91 matches is the fifth highest at the IPL – the highest being Suresh Raina’s tally – 2802 at an average of 35.02 in 99 matches.

# Kallis’ innings was his 27th fifty in Twenty20.

# Kallis got his 16th Man of the Match award in Twenty20.

# Mumbai’s 122 for seven was their second lowest vs Kolkata at the IPL – the lowest being 108 at Mumbai on May 16, 2012.

# Manish Pandey completed 1,000 runs at the IPL – his tally being 1059 (ave.25.82) in 63 matches.

# Pandey (64 off 53 balls) registered his fifth innings of fifty-plus (a hundred and four fifties) at the IPL. In Twenty20, he has recorded a hundred and nine fifties.

# Lasith Malinga took his tally to 107 (ave.17.49) in 74 matches, extending his IPL record. Amit Mishra, with 95 wickets at 20.25 runs apiece in 76 matches, has the next best IPL tally.

# Malinga’s wicket-aggregate of 245 (ave.17.80) in 182 games is a record for most wickets in Twenty20.





BatsmanStatusRunsBalls4s6sSR
Gautam Gambhir (C)b Lasith Malinga08000.00
Jacques Kallisc Corey Anderson b Lasith Malinga724653156.52
Manish Pandeyb Lasith Malinga645362120.75
Robin Uthappa (W)c Rohit Sharma b Zaheer Khan120050.00
Yusuf Pathannot out4400100.00
Shakib Al Hasanc Rohit Sharma b Lasith Malinga120050.00
Suryakumar Yadavnot out13530260.00
Piyush Chawla





Vinay Kumar





Sunil Narine





Morne Morkel





Extras: 8 (b - 0, w - 4, no - 4, lb - 0, penalty - 0)
Fall of Wickets1/4 (Gautam Gambhir 1.4ov.)
2/135 (Manish Pandey 17ov.)
3/144 (Robin Uthappa 18ov.)
4/145 (Jacques Kallis 18.2ov.)
5/149 (Shakib Al Hasan 19ov.)
BowlersOMRWKTNOWDECON
Zaheer Khan40231035.75
Lasith Malinga40234015.75
Corey Anderson303300011
Pragyan Ojha40360009
Harbhajan Singh30250008.33
Kieron Pollard20190009.5



BatsmanStatusRunsBalls4s6sSR
Michael Husseyb Sunil Narine3130023.08
Aditya Tarec & b Shakib Al Hasan242221109.09
Ambati Rayudust Robin Uthappa b Sunil Narine484040120.00
Rohit Sharma (C)c Jacques Kallis b Morne Morkel272001135.00
Kieron Pollardnot out680075.00
Corey Andersonb Sunil Narine280025.00
Harbhajan Singhb Sunil Narine02000.00
Chidhambaram Gautam (W)st Robin Uthappa b Piyush Chawla7710100.00
Lasith Malinga





Zaheer Khan





Pragyan Ojha





Extras: 5 (b - 4, w - 1, no - 0, lb - 0, penalty - 0)
Fall of Wickets1/24 (Michael Hussey 4.4ov.)
2/40 (Aditya Tare 7.5ov.)
3/101 (Rohit Sharma 15.2ov.)
4/106 (Ambati Rayudu 16.1ov.)
5/113 (Corey Anderson 18.1ov.)
6/113 (Harbhajan Singh 18.3ov.)
7/122 (Chidhambaram Gautam 20ov.)
BowlersOMRWKTNOWDECON
Vinay Kumar20150007.5
Morne Morkel40161004
Sunil Narine40204005
Shakib Al Hasan40291007.25
Jacques Kallis30230007.67
Piyush Chawla30151015

Its party time in India as IPL 7 begins

The 2014 season of the Indian Premier League, abbreviated as IPL 7 or Pepsi IPL 2014, is the seventh season of the IPL. The Mumbai Indians are the defending champions, having won the 2013 season after defeating Chennai Super Kings in the final. There will be eight teams this season, one fewer than 2013 after the withdrawal of the Pune Warriors India.

 A part of this season will be held outside India after Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde denied the provision of security the league demanded as it would clash with the 2014 general election. The tournament will be jointly hosted by India and the United Arab Emirates. The opening 20 matches will be held in the UAE at three different stadiums in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah with the tournament returning to India on 2 May.

The players auction took place on 12 and 13 February 2014. Unlike previous seasons, the auction was in Indian Rupees rather than United States dollars.

 Hosting

On 14 February, Sanjay Patel, who is the BCCI secretary, told the media after the IPL governing council meeting: "As far as possible our interest is to hold the IPL in India. Then, probably, South Africa is the preferred venue at the moment." The initial part of the season will be held outside India, to avoid adding to the existing security demands for the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections. South Africa, Bangladesh and UAE were initially shortlisted as alternative venues. The BCCI working committee's meeting on 28 February decided that a final decision would be taken once the schedule for the general election was announced as the BCCI wanted to have as many matches as possible hosted in India due to pressure from the sponsors. 

On 2 March 2014, it was reported that Sri Lanka, which was under fourth consideration for hosting the matches, has been ruled out due to prospect of rains in the country during the period. On 5 March 2014, when the dates for general elections were announced, IPL chairman Ranjib Biswal stated that 60–70 percent of the tournament would be held in India. Also, South Africa as an alternate venue has effectively been ruled out since they wanted to host the entire tournament, leaving chances open for UAE and Bangladesh. 

On 12 March 2014, it was announced that the tournament would begin on 16 April and at least 16 matches will be played in United Arab Emirates till 30 April. From the 1st to 12 May, BCCI has approached the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India seeking permission to play IPL matches in India in cities where the polling has concluded in the respective state. If it is not possible to play in India during this period, IPL matches will be held in Bangladesh. All matches after 12 May, which is last day of polling for the elections, will be played in India. No matches will be played on 16 May, given it is the day for counting of votes for the general election. The final will be played on 1 June 2014. 

Schedule

The schedule of the first phase of the IPL 2014 was announced on 19 March 2014. The first phase of the tournament consist of 20 matches played from 16 to 30 April 2014 in the United Arab Emirates. The opening match of the tournament will be played between the defending champions Mumbai Indians and the Kolkata Knight Riders on 16 April 2014 at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi at 6:30 pm local time (8:00 pm IST). From 2 May onwards the 36 games of the regular season and the 4 playoffs will be played in India across 10 venues. 

Staff Changes

Gary Kirsten signed up as Head Coach of Delhi Daredevils.Kolkata Knight Riders appointed Woorkeri Raman as batting coach while Wasim Akram returned as bowling coach after taking break for IPL-6. Royal Challengers Bangalore announced Daniel Vettori (member of RCB squad, 2011–13) as head coach and Allan Donald (Head coach of the former Pune Warriors India in the last IPL) as bowling coach, while Trent Woodhill (former batting and fielding coach of Delhi Daredevils) was appointed as batting and fielding coach. Darren Lehmann was not able to continue with Kings XI Punjab due to his commitments with Australian cricket team. Sanjay Bangar was appointed as Kings XI's assistant coach. As former Indian cricket team captain Rahul Dravid decided to quit playing IPL after IPl 2013, Rajasthan Royals team management decided to appoint him as the Chief Team Mentor of the Rajasthan Royals team. 

Insurance

Since this year's IPL will be played during the Lok Sabha Elections in the country, re-insurance companies have asked to double the rates for insurance cover of IPL 7. The insurance cover includes parties like BCCI, franchisees and media partners. The insurance companies expects a high security danger threat during the elections period in the country. The companies are demanding Rs. 140 million for a cover of Rs. 9 billion this year which is exactly double to the last year price of Rs. 70 million.

Broadcast

Times Internet decided to share IPL digital rights with STAR India giving StarSports.com streaming rights instead of YouTube, which has been streaming IPL since its inception in 2008. In the UK, ITV4 will show the league for the final time before Sky Sports takes over in 2015. 

 Player auction

Player
Salary cap deduction
Capped
First
INR12.5 crore (US$2.02 m)

Second
INR9.5 crore (US$1.53 m)

Third
INR7.5 crore (US$1.21 m)

Fourth
INR5.5 crore (US$880,000)

Fifth
INR4 crore (US$645,000)

Uncapped
Each
INR4 crore (US$645,000)


Players retained

Rights to match
0
3
1–2
2
3–5
1





On 24 December 2013, the IPL Governing Council finalised the Player Regulations for the 2014 season. All teams were allowed to retain a maximum of five players (at most four Indian capped players) and the rest of the players had to be sent into the auction pool. Retention of players led to reduction of the teams' salary cap by a fixed amount, regardless of the players' actual salaries. Some franchises were unhappy with new retention rules. Each team had a starting salary cap of INR600 million. Three franchises retained the maximum of 5 players while Delhi Daredevils retained none. 

This season's auction saw the introduction of several new rules. For the first time Indian uncapped players were also into the auction. There is no minimum quota for catchment area players restriction. All player fees was denominated in Indian rupees but overseas players may choose to be paid in another currency. There was also introduction of the "rights to match", which allowed teams to purchase a player from their 2013 squad in the auction by matching the highest bid. The number of "rights to match" depends on the amount of players retained by the team. Also, the players' salaries will not include their fees for participation in the Champions League Twenty20. Teams who qualify will pay each player who represents them an additional 10% of his IPL fee. Previously, players who qualified for the CLT20 with their IPL team had to forfeit 20% of their IPL salary to represent another team. 

On 27 January 2014 BCCI released a list of capped players to all the franchises which would be available for the auction. This list had a total of 233 players from 10 countries. On 29 January 2014 this list was updated to 244 capped players and 651 uncapped players. On 6 February 2014, the final auction list was shortlisted by teams to 514 players (219 capped and 295 uncapped). The list was further shortened to 511 players (216 capped and 295 uncapped) after the withdrawal of 3 players. The highest base price set was of Rs 20 million and the lowest of Rs 1 million. The auction took place on the 12 and 13 February.

On 7 February 2014, a plea was filed in the Supreme Court to interfere in the IPL auction in relation to the 2013 Indian Premier League spot-fixing and betting case involving Gurunath Meiyappan of Chennai Super Kings. On 10 February 2014, an IPL spot-fixing report finding Meiyappan involved in betting was submitted to the Supreme Court. However the Supreme Court allowed the auction to go through as per schedule. 

A total of 154 players including 50 overseas players were sold. The list consisted of 80 capped players (of which 34 were Indians) and 74 uncapped players. 127 players (including 10 who have only been part of the squad) have previously been part of IPL teams. 66 players will represent the same side that they played for in 2013. 13 Right to Match cards were used during the auction. Yuvraj Singh fetched the highest bid of INR14 crore (US$2.3 million) while Dinesh Karthik was the second most expensive purchase at a price of INR12.5 crore (US$2.1 million) by Delhi Daredevils. Kevin Pietersen was the costliest foreign player. Among uncapped players, Karan Sharma was the most expensive at INR3.75 crore (US$630,000). Many prominent Indian players and most Sri Lankan and English players were unsold.



Liverpool defeats Man city 3-2 at Anfield and take charge of title race



Liverpool took a huge step towards winning the Premier League title by beating Manchester City as Anfield marked the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.

The Reds looked like sweeping City aside in a dazzling opening half as goals from Raheem Sterling and Martin Skrtel put Brendan Rodgers's team in complete command.

City, who lost Yaya Toure to injury early on, mounted a superb recovery and David Silva pulled one back early in the second half before his cross was deflected in off Glen Johnson and Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet to draw them level five minutes later.

A gripping spectacle was decided 12 minutes from time when City captain Vincent Kompany - an injury doubt before the game and clearly lacking some of his familiar authority - sliced a clearance straight to Philippe Coutinho, who shot low and unerringly past Joe Hart to put Liverpool in control of the title race.

It set up a nail-biting finish in which Liverpool's Jordan Henderson was shown a straight red card for a late challenge on Samir Nasri, one which means he will miss three of the last four games, and referee Mark Clattenburg missed Skrtel's clear handball in the closing seconds.

The final whistle sounded seconds later and a wall of noise surrounded Anfield as Reds players gathered in a huddle in front of the Kop, four wins away from their first title since 1990.

If Liverpool win those games they will be champions, but Chelsea also have to visit Liverpool and there is every chance they will still be harbouring Premier League title ambitions of their own.

City's impressive second-half showing demonstrated they must not be ruled out and they left Anfield nursing a sense of injustice, also believing Luis Suarez should have been sent off when Clattenburg declined to give him a second yellow card for diving.

None of this will matter to the Reds, who were simply breathtaking in the opening 45 minutes as they made it 10 league wins in succession.

City had an injury doubt surrounding captain Kompany before kick-off after he limped out of training on Saturday. He underwent a lengthy warm-up on his own after being named on the team sheet and was fit to play.

Liverpool's lightning starts have become their trademark and they were at it again as Sterling gave them the lead after six minutes.

Suarez, who had already been booked for a late challenge on Martin Demichelis, played a perfect pass into Sterling, who showed commendable coolness to wait and wrong-foot Kompany and Hart before scoring in front of an ecstatic Kop.

And to make matters worse, Toure pulled up sharply with a muscle injury after attempting a long-range shot, struggling for a few minutes before accepting the inevitable and being replaced by Javi Garcia.

The hosts were overwhelming City with their pace, pressing and movement and should have extended their lead when Sterling set up Daniel Sturridge, only for the striker to glide a finish wide from eight yards.

The only complaint Rodgers could have had was that his team were not further ahead - but that situation was remedied as they scored a second after 26 minutes.

City's suspect marking at set-pieces allowed Gerrard a free header, which forced a magnificent one-handed save from Hart. It kept Liverpool at bay for a matter of seconds as Gerrard swung over the resulting corner and Skrtel rose at the near post to head in.

Finally, City showed signs of life as half-time approached and Mamadou Sakho was very fortunate to escape with a reckless lunge on Edin Dzeko in the area.

As Liverpool's pace relented briefly, the tiny figure of Sterling rose to head Kompany's header off the line before Mignolet did very well to plunge and turn away a snapshot from Fernandinho.

There was a very contentious moment early in the second half when Suarez went down theatrically with, at best, minimal contact from Demichelis. Referee Clattenburg gave no foul and City immediately questioned why Suarez had not been given a second yellow card for diving.

City were a team transformed after the break, with the introduction of James Milner for Jesus Navas a contributing factor. He helped Silva pull one back when his run and cross gave the Spaniard a close-range finish.

And as the Merseysiders suddenly rocked, matters were level five minutes later when Silva's cross went in via a touch off Johnson and the legs of Mignolet.

Sensing the shift in momentum, City manager Manuel Pellegrini introduced Sergio Aguero for Dzeko and he almost set up a third for Silva, who just had to stretch too far to reach the pass and shot just wide.

Liverpool made City pay with 12 minutes left when Kompany's sliced clearance fell to Coutinho, who sent a low finish past the stretching Hart.

In a frantic finish, Henderson was sent off and Skrtel escaped with a handball - but nothing could dampen the celebrations that swept around Anfield.