Warriors tame Kings. Brilliant debut by Sahara Pune Warriors.
Sahara Pune Warriors made explosive debut in IPL with a win under their belt over Kings XI Punjab. It was clinical performance from Sahara Pune Warriors that helped them in this victory. Gilchrist failed to make an impression with the bat and most of his batsmen surrendered to the Warriors bowling. Shreekant Wagh bowled exceptionally well on a pitch which had some bounce on it and picked up 3 crucial wickets for Pune.
Ryan McLaren fought hard for Kings XI by playing brilliant knock of 51 and help them in reaching competitive total. After getting out cheaply Kings XI started brilliantly in the fielding as they picked up opener Greame Smith on the first ball of the innings but Jesse Ryder and Mithun Manhas knitted superb partnership and took Warriors near to the victory. In the end Utthappa and skipper Yuvraj finished the game for Warriors by winning it in 14th over itself.
It was comprehensive victory for the costliest side in the tournament. Sahara Pune Warrior has announced their arrival on IPL scene with this thumping victory over Kings XI Punjab. Adam Gilchrist have to inspire his team to do well in coming matches otherwise its going to be a very tough journey for Kings XI Punjab in this edition of IPL.
Man of the Match: Shreekant Wagh
Master vs Disciple: Mumbai Indians crushed Delhi Daredevils.
It was master’s day and he emerged as champion. Disciple failed to live upto the expectation and lost the game. It was Sachin vs Sehwag, a dream contest and in the end Sachin won it for Mumbai Indians. But the game belonged to Slinga Malinga whose brilliant spell proved too deadly for Sehwag’s Daredevil’s and rest of the damage done by poor running between the wickets.
Delhi won the toss on a slow–sluggish pitch and got the advantage to bat in best of the conditions but Malinga soon turned this advantage into disaster as he bowled dream spell to restrict Delhi Daredevils under 100 runs. He ended up with 3rd best figures in IPL and he bowled flurry of Yorkers to Delhi batsmen. It was Maling’a brilliance which forced dasher like Sehwag to play maiden in T20 game. Such was Malinga’s impact. I think it was Malinga who set the stage for Mumbai Indians to win this game.
Once Sehwag and Warner got out they fall like nine-pins which left big question-mark on Daredevil’s team for rest of the tournament. It was impressive return for the Irfan Pathan who played any after 1 year. His swing is back and looked good in his spell.
Man of the Match: Lasith Malinga
Poor debut for Kochi as RCB beat them in close contest.
Brilliance of AB DeVilliers denied Kochi Tuskers Kerala to open their account with a win on their IPL debut. Till 18th over match was perfectly balanced and there was every possibility of close finish but AB DeVilliers had other Ideas as he hit 3 sixes in a over that helped RCB to win the game easily against Kochi Tuskers.
Kochi started their innings brilliantly on pitch which was full of runs. McCullum and Laxman gave brilliant start but Kochi lost the momentum in the batting in middle overs. When Kochi started their batting, it looked like they were going to put up score in excess of 180 but RCB pulled it back and restricted them to 160 odd which looked par total on a pitch which was belter.
Kochi fought well till 18th over and game was hanging in balance but AB DeVillier’s clean and lusty hitting was the difference between 2 teams. Kochi was unlucky to end on losing side after playing well till that 18th over. It was heartening to see Laxman’s batting and the way he batted it clearly suggest that he has the class to perform in any format of the game and it is wrong to label him as only test player.
Great debut for Daniel Vettori as RCB skipper and unlucky debut for Mahela Jayawardene as a skipper of Kochi team.
Man of the Match: AB DeVilliers
Magical Warnie helped RR to beat DC.
There is a saying “Champions are forever Champions’ and Rajasthan Royals captain proved it right. Magical Warnie bowled like a champion, captained like a champion and achieved the comprehensive win over Deccan Chargers on Saturday. Rajasthan bowling came good on the day as they dismissed Deccan for paltry total and then chased down the total quite easily. Siddharth Trivedi once again bowled brilliant spell for Rajasthan and he was brilliantly supported by Amit Singh and Shane Warne who also picked up two wickets. It was quite unbelievable how Warnie bowled in that game. Right from the first ball of his spell, Warnie was spot-on. Remember Warne is not playing cricket entire year and yet he bowls like, he bowled in his prime.
Warnie once again pulled rabbit out of the hat and that trick worked again for him. When he sent Botha at No.3 and Botha won the game for Rajasthan with the bat as he scored brilliant half-century for Rajasthan Royals.
On the other hand Deccan remain unsuccessful in stopping Rajasthan from chasing that paltry total. The only bowler from Deccan, who looked like picking up wickets was Dale Steyn who was their most successful bowler. Captain Sangakkara’s failure with the bat also proved costly to Deccan because he is their best batsmen. It was one-sided contest where overall teamwork of Rajasthan helped them in winning this match. It will be interesting to see whether Rajasthan repeats its performance of first season or not in this edition of IPL. So far everything is fine and for Deccan tough time ahead because they don’t have potent batting line-up and form of left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha is also big concern for Deccan.
Man of the Match: Siddharth Trivedi
No comments:
Post a Comment