Chennai SuperKings vs Mumbai Indians

In a repeat show of the Twenty20 World Cup final, Joginder Sharma lived up to captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's expectation and sent down a crucial final over as Chennai Super Kings pipped Mumbai Indians by six runs in a thrilling Indian Premier League tie.Matthew Hayden blasted 81 and featured in a century stand with Suresh Raina (53) as Chennai Super Kings amassed 208 for five.
Chasing 209, Mumbai openers got out early. They surely missed the presence of Sachin.But later in the innings the Abhishek and Harbhajan ligthened a ray of hope for Mumbai.
Harbhajan Singh (28) and Abhishek Nayar's (45 not out) spectacular rearguard action had the Mumbai side needing 19 off the last over. But Joginder's clever bowling had the match for Chennai. Robin Utthappa too batted well scoring scoring 43.
The Man Of the Match was Matthew Hayden.

Delhi Daredevils vs Deccan Chargers

Virender Sehwag decimated the Deccan Chargers with a violent unbeaten 94 as Delhi Daredevils registered an easy nine-wicket win in the Indian Premier League.
The Hyderabad team batting first scored a modest 142 for 8. Rohit Sharma played a significant knock of 66 of just 36 balls.
The first innings also witnessed some great bowling spells by Glenn McGrath and Md.Asif.
But with skipper Sehwag on fire, Delhi Daredevils overwhelmed the target in 13 overs losing just one wicket for their second victory in a row.
Shikar Dhawan accompanying the skipper contributed 25*.
Virender Sehwag was the Man Of the Match.

Rajasthan Royals vs KingsXI Punjab

The under-rated Royals team proved their worth by securing a stunning win over the KingsXI Punjab team.

The two Shanes shone quite brilliantly to steer the Rajasthan team to victory.

KingsXI team batting first scored a satisfactory total of 166. Yuvraj Singh was the highest scorer from their side scoring 57 of just 34 balls. Piyush Chawla too played acrucial knock of 24* of just 11 deliveries. Shane Warne bowled a splendid spell of 3/19 of 4 overs.

Froms the Royals team Shane Watson played an attacking innings of 76* of 49 balls to guide his team to a easy win. Watson was accompanied by Ravinder Jadeja who scored 36* of 25 balls.

Lee and his companions couldn't do much to curb the Royal batsmen.

Shane Watson was the Man Of The Match.

Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Mumbai Indians

South Africa's Mark Boucher hammered an unbeaten 39 to ensure that Bangalore Royal Challengers defeated Mumbai Indians by five wickets with two balls to spare for their first win in the Indian Premier League onSunday night.

Mumbai clearly missed the experience of Tendulkar, who skipped the game due to a groin injury. His absence meant that Harbhajan, who had little experience of leading, captained the side.

Robin Uthappa was the top scorer for Mumbai with an innovative 48 (38 balls, 5x4s, 1x6). He played some unconventional shots. Opener Sanath Jayasuriya scored 29 off 16 balls (5x4s, 1x6) while Shaun Pollock made 28 not out (11 balls, 3x4s, 2x6s).

Pacers Zaheer Khan and Balachandra Akhil bagged two wickets apiece.

All the top order Bangalore batsmen provided with useful contributions. Dravid scored 37, Kallis 25 and Kohli chipped in with a 14-ball 23 (3x4s, 1x6) before Boucher in the company of B. Akhil sealed the win.

Harbhajan took two for 36.

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Deccan Chargers.

What a competion! A true rivalry of bat and ball.
David Hussey played a crucial unbeaten knock of 38 to help Kolkata Knight Riders secure a five-wicket win over Deccan Chargers in a close Indian Premier League tie, on Sunday.
Having bowled out the Chargers for a paltry 110 on a poor pitch, the hosts were tottering 21 for three at one stage before Hussey changed the script with an innings, which was a good mix of caution and flamboyance.
From the Chargers Andrew Symonds played a crucial knock of 32.
The Chargers provided a stiff competion but all went in a vain.
In the 16th over the lights went off and the play was stopped for a while.
Murli Kartik bowled a vital spell of 3/17.
David Hussey was declared Man Of The Match.

My own experience of the KingsXI and Chennai Superkings match

Wow! What a match. This was the first cricket match I saw live in the stadium.

The match had it all great batting performances, good bowling spells and some dazzling field work.

I was really impressed by Brett Lee as when he came towards us,folded his hands and greeted us NAMASTEY. But the show stealer was ofcourse Mike Hussey 116* of just 54 balls.

There were some other great performances by Kumara Sangakkara, James Hopes, Suresh Raina, Muttiah Murlitharan.

I even got a glimpse of the beautiful Priety Zinta who was continously cheering for her team.

One of the best things for me is to see how well these players get along when playing together. It lets us see the more human side of the players and how they really enjoy playing the game of cricket, no matter whether they are playing for the country or an IPL team. I suppose it's a lesson for all of us, that cricket is just a game and you should enjoy it.

Even though our home team lost it but we all were delighted by the great cricketing experience.

Delhi Dare devils vs Rajasthan Royals

The Rajasthan Royals won the toss and decided to bat first. The Delhi bowlers put up a disciplined show to restrict them to 129 and then their batsmen chased down the target in just 15.1 overs.

Farveez Maharoof bowled a splendid spell of 2/11 in 4 overs. The newcommer Rajat Bhatia bowled well by just giving 17 runs and picking up 2 wickets.

From the Royals side Ravinder Jadeja 29 and Dinesh Salunkhe were the only run-getters.

In return Shane Warne's team couldn't do much and lost it by 9-wickets.

Gautam Gambhir 58 and Shikhar Dhawan 52 easily steered the Delhi team to victory.

Farveez Maharoof was declared Man Of the Match.

Chennai Super Kings vs KingsXI Punjab

Chennai Super Kings had their Western Australia specialist Michael Hussey to thank for a massive total 240-5. His scintillating unbeaten 116*,a superb exhibition left Punjab a mountain to climb and in return the Punjab innings ended at 204-7.

The Punjab team having a strong bowlins line-up with Brett Lee, S.Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan could not do much to restrict the superkings.Suresh Raina 32 and S.Badrinath 31* also made a vital contribution to the massive total. Irfan had the best figures 2-47.

Mohali team did fightback with great knocks from James Hopes 71 and Kumara Sangakkara 54.

Wicket kept falling at regular intervals and Chennai team won it by 33 runs.

Michael Hussey was declared Player of the match for his brilliant knock of 116* of just 54 balls.

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Bangalore Royal Challengers

The first match of IPL2008 and what a start. Brendon McCullum made 158* the highest total ever in the T-20s and led Kolkata Knight Riders to victory. The Knights won by 140 runs.

The knights batting first made 222-3 in 20 overs.

Again a brilliant effort from the Kolkatans as they restricted the challengers for just 82.

Brendon McCullum was decided Man Of the Match for his devastating knock.

Kolkatan bowlers speacialy Ishant Sharma 1/7 and Ajit Agarkar 3/25 bowled really well.

From bangalore's side the highest scorer was Praveen Kumar18* and Zaheer Khan was their best bowler 1/34.

IPl Schedule

IPL Game Schedule
April 19 : Delhi v Jaipur at Delhi
April 20: Mumbai v Bangalore at Mumbai; Kolkata v Hyderabad at Kolkata
April 21: Jaipur v Mohali at Jaipur
April 22: Hyderabad v Delhi at Hyderabad
April 23: Chennai v Mumbai at Chennai
April 24: Hyderabad v Jaipur at Hyderabad
April 25: Mohali v Mumbai at Mohali
April 26: Bangalore v Jaipur at Bangalore; Chennai v Kolkata at Chennai
April 27: Mumbai v Hyderabad at Mumbai; Mohali v Delhi at Mohali
April28: Bangalore v Chennai at Bangalore
April 29: Kolkata v Mumbai at Kolkata
April 30: Delhi v Bangalore at Delhi.
May 1: Hyderabad v Mohali at Hyderabad; Jaipur v Kolkata at Jaipur
May 2: Chennai v Delhi at Chennai.
May 3: Hyderabad at Bangalore at Hyderabad; Mohali v Kolkata at Mohali
May 4: Mumbai v Delhi at Mumbai; Jaipur v Chennai at Jaipur
May 5: Bangalore v Mohali at Bangalore
May 6: Chennai v Hyderabad at Chennai
May 7: Mumbai v Jaipur at Mumbai
May 8: Delhi v Chennai at Delhi; Kolkata v Bangalore at Kolkata
May 9: Jaipur v Hyderabad at Jaipur
May 10: Bangalore v Mumbai at Bangalore; Chennai v Mohali at Chennai
May 11: Hyderabad v Kolkata at Hyderabad; Jaipur v Delhi at Jaipur
May 12: Mohali v Bangalore at Mohali
May13:Kolkata v Delhi at Kolkata
May 14: Mumbai v Chennai at Mumbai;Mohali v Jaipur at Mohali
May 15: Delhi v Hyderabad at Delhi
May 16: Mumbai v Kolkata at Mumbai
May 17: Delhi v Mohali at Delhi; Jaipur v Bangalore at Jaipur
May 18: Hyderabad v Mumbai at Hyderabad; Kolkata v Chenna at Kolkata
May 19: Bangalore v Delhi at Bangalore
May 20: Kolkata v Jaipur at Kolkata
May 21: Mumbai v Mohali at Mumbai; Chennai v Bangalore at Chennai
May 22: Delhi v Kolkata at Delhi
May 23: Mohali v Hyderabad at Mohali.
May 24: Delhi v Mumbai at Delhi; Chennai v Jaipur at Chennai
May 25: Bangalore v Hyderabad at Bangalore; Kolkata v Mohali at Kolkata
May 26: Jaipur v Mumbai at Jaipur
May 27: Hyderabad v Chennai at Hyderabad
May 28 and 29: Rest days
May 30: First semi-final at Mumbai
May 31: Second semi-final at Mumbai
June 1: Final at Mumbai

Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders is the franchise representing Kolkata in the Indian Premier League. The team is led by Sourav Ganguly and coached by John Buchanan. The official theme of the team is Korbo, Lorbo, Jitbo Re (We will do it, Fight for it, Win it). It is owned by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment in partnership with Juhi Chawla and her husband, Jai Mehta.

The Knights:

1.Sourav Ganguly(captain): Modern-day cricketing legend. 2.Ricky Ponting: World's most successful captain ever 3.Brendon Mccullum: An incredible keeper and a powerhouse batsman 4.Ishant Sharma: India's fastest bowler ever 5.Chris Gayle: Devil opener and a partnership breaker 6.Ajit Agarkar: Experienced Indian star bowler 7.Murali Kartik: The silent killer 8. Akash Chopra: A classic opener 9.David Hussey: The Bomberman 10.Tatenda Taibu: The youngest captain ever 11.Umar Gul: The devastator 12.Salman Butt: The dependable Paki opener 13.Ranadeb Bose: Best Indian bowler in domestics 14.Ashok Dinda : A local speedster 15.Laxmi Ratan Shukla: The lost hero.

Bangalore Royal Challengers

Royal Challengers Bangalore is the team representing the city of Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. The team is owned by the liquor magnate Vijay Mallya, the chairman of UB Group. Charu Sharma is the CEO of the team.

Coach: Venkatesh Prasad

The Challengers:

1.Rahul Dravid(captain): The Wall

2.Mark Boucher: Finest wicketkeeper

3.Shivnarine Chanderpaul: A prolific stroke maker

4.Wasim Jaffer: Remarkablely talented

5.Misbah-ul-haq: A versatile cricketer

6.Ross Taylor: Upcoming New Zealander

7.Jacques Kallis: Greatest all-rounder ever

8.Virat Kohli: U-19 T-20 winner captain

9.Anil Kumble: Leading Indian wicket-taker

10.Nathan Bracken: The Aussie great

11.Zaheer Khan: Spearhead of Indian bowling attack

12.Dale Steyn: An aggressive out-and-out fast bowler

13.Praveen Kumar: Talented young Indian all-rounder

14.Cameroon White: A powerful all-rounder speacially for T-20s

15.Abdur Razzak: Slowie from Bangladesh

16.Sunil Joshi: Forgotten warrior.

Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals is the franchise that will represent the city of Jaipur in the Indian Premier League. The team will be led and coached by Shane Warne.

The Rajasthan Royals franchise is owned by Emerging Media group.

The Royals:

1.Shane Warne: The Chucky Leg Spinner

2.Mohammad Kaif: Defensive middle-order batsman

3.Graeme Smith: The Prince

4.Younis Khan: A skilled batsman

5.Justin Langer: Best test-opner for Aussies

6.Sohail Tanvir: The furious

7.Shane Watson: The New Star From Australia

8.Dimitri Mascarenhas: Only Englishman in this season of IPL

9.Kamran Akmal: Quick-scoring batsman and a wicket-keeper

10.Morne Morkel: A genuine fast bowler

11.Munaf Patel: A struggler

12.Yusuf Pathan: Talented all-rounder, brother of Irfan

13.Taruwar Kohli: U-19 T-20 finals highest scorer.

14.Ravinder Jadeja: The new star in making

15.Pankaj Singh: Fast bowler from UP.

Deccan Chargers

The Deccan Chargers is a franchise that will represent the city of Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League. The Deccan Chargers is owned by Deccan Chronicle.

Coach: Robin Singh

The Unstoppables:

1.VVS Laxman(captain): Elegancy redefined

2.Adam Gilchrist: Greatest wicket-keeper batsman

3.Andrew Symonds: A sure match-winner

4.Chaminda Vaas: King of inswingers

5.Scott Styris: Stunning all-rounder

6.Herschelle Gibbs: Tremendous strokeplayer

7.Rohit Sharma: Rising Indian T-20 star

8.RP Singh: Consistent wicket-taker

9.Shahid Afridi: T-20 world cup player of series

10.Chamara Silva: Thinner version of Aravinda de Silva

11.Sanjay Bangar: An enthusiastic all rounder

12.Venugopal Rao: Stylish Andhra batsman

13.Nuwan Zoysa: Agressive left-arm seamer.

14.Arjun Yadav: Strongly built middle-order batsman

15.Pragyan Ojha: Promising left-arm spinner.

Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians, a team comprising of talented youngsters headed by Sachin Tendulkar.

The ambassador of the team is Hritik Roshan.
Owners: Mukesh Ambani and Reliance and Reliance Industries Limited.
The coach: Lal Chand Rajput
The Mumbaikars:
1.Sachin Tendulkar (captain): The God of cricket
2.Sanath Jayasuriya: A geniune math-winner
3.Shuan Pollock: The incomparible
4.Harbhajan Singh: The turbanator
5.Robin Uthappa: Attacking baby
6.Yogesh Takawale: Wicket-keeper batsman
7.Lasith Malinga: The stylish pacer
8.Ashwell Prince: The dependable
9.Abhishek Nayyar: Next big thing
10.Ashish Nehra: Delhite wicket-taker
11.Loots Bosman: Hard-hitter
12.Dilhara Fernando: Lankan medium pacer
13.Rajesh Pawar: The mumbai hero.
14.Manish Pandey: Karnatkan spinner
15.Ajinkya Rahane: Young gun

Delhi Daredevils

Delhi Daredevils are a part of the eight club Indian Premier League. The team is owned by GMR holdings for next 10 years.
The actor Akshay kumar is the ambassador of the team.
Coach: Greg Shiperd
The Team:
1.Virender Sehwag(captain): Destructor Jaat
2.Gautam Gambhir: Stylish opener
3.Glenn Mcgrath: The legendary pacer
4.AB de Villiers: The high scoring opener
5.Daniel Vettori: Spin-master
6.Shoaib Malik: The paki great
7.Mohammad Asif: The bowl mover
8.Tillakratne Dilshan: The middle-order hitter
9.Shikhar Dhawan: The local star
10.Dinesh Karthik: Classy wicket-keeper batsman
11.Mithun Manhas: The Spinning all rounder
12.Farveez Maharoof: Slow bowl swinger
13.Manoj Tiwary: The splendid batsman
14.Brett Geeves: Aussie pacer

KingsXI - Punjab

Team mohali is part of 8 competing teams promoted by IPL.
Team Promoters and Owners: Priety Zinta, Ness Wadia, Mohit Burman, Karan Paul.
Coach: Tom Moody
Chief Executive Officer: Neil Maxwell
The Team:
1.Yuvraj Singh: Punjabi Powerhouse
2.Kumar Sangakkara: Talented wicket-keeper batsman
3.Brett Lee: The speedster
4.Mahela Jayawardane: The cool guy
5.Ramnaresh Sarwan: The guyana indian
6.James Hopes: The hard-hitting all-rounder
7.Irfan Pathan: Maharaja of reverse-swing
8.Simon Katich: The classy left-hander batsman
9.Kyle Mills: The kiwi right-arm pacer
10.Luke Pomersbach: Australian T-20 specialist
11.S. Sreesanth: Its all about attitude
12.Pankaj Dharmani: The local champ
13.Piyush Chawla: Youngest king of googly
14.Romesh Powar: Wears zany red Powar sunglasses
15.VRV Singh: Chandigarh express.

The Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings are a part of the eight club Indian Premier League. The team is owned by Indian Cements, for the next 10 years.
Former India test player Kris Srikkanth is the brand ambassador for the team, and V.B.Chandrasekhar is the chief selector.
The Kings:
1.MS.Dhoni - Captain of T20 champs
2.Muttiah Muralitharan - The god of spin
3.Matthew Hayden - Magical hitter
4.Jacob Oram - Better than the best
5.Stephen Fleming - Mr.Dependable
6.Makhaya Ntini - Lethal bowler
7.Michael Hussey - Mr.Cricket
8.Albie Morkel - Invincible all rounder
9.Suresh Raina - The finisher
10.Parthiv Patel - Sensational WK
11.Joginder Sharma - Man of golden arm
12. Abhinav Mukund - Talented all-rounder
13.Napoleon Einstein - Promising opener
14.Viraj Kadbe - Aspiring batsmen
15.Lakshmi Balaji - Comeback kid.

The Clubs or Franchises

This season of IPL will witness 8 clubs or franchises. The total base price for auction was US$400 million, the auction fetched US$723.59 million on 24 January 2008.
The official list of franchise owners announced and the winning bids were as follows :

1) Mumbai Indians owned by Mukesh Ambani and Reliance Industries Limited
was bid for $111.9 million.
2) Bangalore Royal Challengers owned by Dr. Vijay Mallya and UB group
was bid for $111.6 million.
3) Hyderabad Deccan Chargers owned by Deccan Chronicle
was bid for $107 million.
4) Chennai Super Kings owned by India Cements and N Srinivasan
was bid for $91 million.
5) Delhi DareDevils owned by GMR Holdings
was bid for $84 million.
6) Kings XI Punjab owned by Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia, Karan Paul (Apeejay Surendera Group) and Mohit Burman (Dabur) was bid for $76 million.
7) Kolkata Knight Riders owned by Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla Mehta and Jai Mehta
was bid for $75.09 million.
8) Rajasthan Royals owned by Emerging Media: (Manoj Badale, Lachlan Murdoch, Suresh Chellaram) was bid for $67 million.

IPL - A revolutionary change to Indian cricket.

The Indian Premier League, is a T-20 cricket competition created by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and sanctioned by the International Cricket Council. The first edition of the Indian Premier League starts on 18 April 2008. The league will consist of 8 teams. Each team will play two matches with every other team, held at home venue and away venue. The league matches will be followed by two semi-finals and a final match.
Its format is based on the English Premier League, in which the players(from all over the world) are contracted by clubs and made to play for them. This will definately do great guns for the players as they get to play with their fellow international players and even get to earn a great sum.