BANGLORE SECURES THEIR PLACE IN TO SEMI-FINALS BEATING HYDERABAD

An unbeaten century from teenager Manish Pandey was the cornerstone of Bangalore Royal Challengers' 12-run win against Deccan Chargers in the final round-robin game of the Indian Premier League at Centurion.
Pandey became the first Indian to reach three figures at this year's tournament with a brisk 117 from 73 balls as Bangalore posted 170 for four.
A quickfire 68-run opening stand between Herschelle Gibbs (60) and Adam Gilchrist (18) had put Deccan on course for victory, but their innings petered out thereafter to fall short at 158 for six.
Both sides began the day knowing only a massive defeat would cost them a place in the semi-finals, and the closeness of the result means they will both play in the last four.
As winners of today's game Bangalore are afforded the luxury of a day's break before playing Chennai Super Kings, while Deccan will meet table-toppers Delhi Daredevils tomorrow.
Pandey made Deccan pay for dropping him when he was on just two with a blistering innings that included four sixes and 10 fours.
The 19-year-old had already seen his more esteemed opening partner Jacques Kallis (five) depart before RP Singh failed even to get a hand on the straightforward chance he offered to third man.
Pandey used the opportunity in full as he smashed back-to-back sixes in the 11th over to bring up his 50 from 36 balls, as Tirumalsetti Suman's over cost him 18 runs.
Rahul Dravid (six) never got going before mis-timing Pragyan Ojha to Gibbs at long-off but Pandey was now in full flight and took 16 off a Jaskaran Singh over, including a towering blow over the square leg boundary.
Pandey then brought up his century, from 67 balls, in the 18th over with a push for two to deep mid-on.
If RP Singh's day was not bad enough by that point he then conceded 23 runs from his final over. Pandey further soured his afternoon's work by clearing the midwicket fence, before Virat Kohli (19 not out) joined in on the act with two more maximums of his own.
In reply, Gibbs took centre stage in a whirlwind 68-run opening stand with Gilchrist.
After progressing relatively sedately to 23 off four overs, Gibbs took 16 from the next three balls off Praveen Kumar.
Not to be denied Gilchrist also found the boundary as the over cost 22, and more punishment was to come in the next as Gibbs hit back-to-back sixes off Roleof van der Merwe.
But Gilchrist (15) fell in the sixth over when he pulled Balachandra Akhil to Van der Merwe at deep square leg and from there the Chargers lost their way.
They failed to find the boundary in the next three overs before Anil Kumble removed Suman for 12 off as many balls.
Crucially, Gibbs (60 off 43 balls) followed soon after when Pandey held on to a running catch off Akhil and when Van der Merwe bowled Andrew Symonds (18) in the next over the Chargers simply ran out of steam.

DELHI EASILY BEATS MUMBAI

Virender Sehwag marked a timely return to form with a blistering half-century as the Delhi Daredevils defeated the Mumbai Indians by four wickets in their final league match of the Indian Premier League at the Centurion on Wednesday.
Sehwag struck 50 and put on 68 runs for the second wicket with Gautam Gambhir (47) as the Daredevils made short work of Mumbai' target of 166.
The Indians, who were asked to bat first, had suffered early setbacks, losing three quick wickets at the top, but Ajinkya Rahane hammered 56 and Sachin Tendulkar made 46 as the Indians eventually posted a formidable 165 for eight.
Gambhir and opening partner David Warner (15), however, got the Daredevils' chase off to a brisk start, the two smashing 30 from the first three overs.
Warner then fell while attempting an extravagant shot and the Indians sensed a chance as the out-of-form Sehwag walked to the crease. But, Sehwag continued from where Warner left off, as he and Gambhir flayed the bowling.
Harbhajan pulled things back with a good first over in which he conceded just three, but Sehwag and Gambhir reduced the deficit to just 73 from the last 10 overs.
Gambhir fell shortly after, but Sehwag continued to plunder runs, bringing up his 50 in just 26 deliveries.
He fell off the next delivery from Harbhajan and the Daredevils wobbled with the off-spinner claiming wickets off successive deliveries in his next over, but eventually secured a win with 15 deliveries to spare.
Nannes had given the Daredevils a strong start with the new ball, claiming wickets in successive overs.
The Victoria left-arm bowler had started with a couple of wides, but trapped Sanath Jayasuriya in front with his first legal delivery.
In his second over, he dismissed JP Duminy, the Indian's top run-getter, immediately after being struck for consecutive boundaries.
Bangladesh skipper Mohammad Ashraful was handed his first cap in the tournament and had struggled to put bat to ball during an uneasy stay at the crease when Pradeep Sangwan ended his innings.
The Indians had slipped to 28 for three, but Tendulkar, who had struck a couple of delectable boundaries at the start of his innings, rebuilt the innings together with Rahane.
The duo staged a remarkable recovery, putting on 73 runs for the fourth wicket as the Indians breached the 100-run mark.
Tendulkar was then bowled by Rajat Bhatia four runs short of a half-century just after the strategic break, but Rahane accelerated along nicely, eventually falling in the final over.
The tail then landed a few lusty blows to get the Indians to a fighting total.
The result had no bearing on the semi-finals with the Indian already out of contention, while the Daredevils had already secured their berth in the last four.

CHENNAI BLASTS IN TO THE SEMI-FINALS BEATING PUNJAB

Chennai Super Kings secured their place in the Indian Premier League semi-finals with a 24-run victory over Kings XI Punjab.
The Super Kings managed to defend a below-par total of 116-9 thanks to some superb bowling from Muttiah Muralitharan, Ravichandran Ashwin and Suresh Raina.
The trio each picked up two wickets as the Kings XI finished their 20-over allocation on 92-8.
It was a poor effort from Punjab considering they themselves were in a must-win situation and things were looking bright for them after Shanthakumaran Sreesanth (2-23) and Irfan Pathan (2-32) helped restrict Chennai, who had only Parthiv Patel (32) amongst the runs.
The 2008 runners-up again opted to rest the tournament's leading run-scorer Matthew Hayden, but his replacement George Bailey and Patel looked solid during their opening stand, in which 40 runs came in just under five overs.
But the Australian was excellently run out for 15 by Punjab captain Yuvraj Singh and his wicket seemed to stifle the momentum thereafter.
Ramesh Powar sent in a quicker delivery that was clumsily played on by Patel ending his 23-ball stay but Raina and Subramaniam Badrinath looked to consolidate, taking the score to 68 in the final over before the strategy break.
That was when Sreesanth came on for his third over and dealt a hammer blow to Chennai by enticing Badrinath (4) into a pull that was lobbed straight to Pathan, followed by the wicket of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, clean bowled for two.
Dhoni's dismissal left his side on 70-4 at the mid-point, but when Wilkin Mota accounted for Raina (20), it left a big responsibility for the tail, who were easily rolled over with only Jacob Oram (17) managing double figures.
In response, Punjab always looked in trouble, but, after the early loss of Sunny Sohal (3), they did momentarily threaten with Australian duo Simon Katich and Luke Pomersbach at the crease.
However, the introduction of Muralitharan (2-8) led to the departure of the former, bowled around his legs for eight, before the latter followed in the 11th over when he edged the Sri Lankan to Raina at slip for 26.
Yuvraj looked out of sorts taking 19 balls for his six runs and after he was bowled by Raina (2-17), the rest of the team easily folded with Ashwin and Thilan Thushara also claiming two wickets apiece.
Of the remaining batsmen, only Pathan (14) managed double figures as Punjab ended well short and must now wait for the remaining two games to be concluded on Thursday to learn whether they may be able to sneak into the semi-final courtesy of net run-rate

GILCHRIST'S MATCH WINNING INNING BLASTS HYDERABAD TO FINALS OF IPL-2

Before the finals of the 2007 ODI World Cup, Adam Gilchrist shrugged off an average tournament to produce one of the most brutal innings in World Cup history. Today, he came in to another high-pressure knock-out match in good form, and then took batting to another level with a display of power hitting that is unlikely to be matched for some time to come.Hyderabad were looking for a fairytale redemption from last year's lows, Delhi were looking to right last year's wrongs. Both were led by captains who knew only one way to play: attack.That faculty was on display right from the start of the first semi-final of the second edition of the IPL.

Gilchrist won the toss and elected to bowl, Sehwag said he'd have been happy to bat. Gilchrist then threw the ball to Ryan Harris for a dream first over for Hyderabad. Harris bowled a double-wicket maiden, getting both Gautam Gambhir and David Warner out for ducks. For any other two batsmen walking in, that would have meant a period of cautious consolidation, but the batsmen at the crease were not just any batsmen. Virender Sehwag and Dilshan got together for an 85 run third wicket partnership off 9.4 overs, and pulled out an array of stunning shots. Stunning because they were executed with such panache and because the match situation would have stymied most batsmen - not made them take the aerial route consistently.

Sehwag looked like he was carrying on from his innings against Mumbai, and Dilshan looked as he has done throughout the tournament - a man on top of his game. It was the strategy break that struck once again as it has in such a debilitating fashion all through. At 85 for 2 in 10.3 overs, Sehwag played a nothing shot, trying to paddle the ball to fine leg and was struck in front by Symonds. He had played his part in resurecting the innings with a 31 ball 39, but ideally would have wanted to carry on.His dismissal brought the tried and tested firm of AB de Villiers and Dilshan together, as they set about building the total by knocking the ball in the gaps. Dilshan reached his fify off just 35 balls.However, just when both batsmen looked set to explode, purple cap holder RP Singh did his captain a huge favour by removing AB de Villiers who looked to hit the ball out of the ground, but only got an edge through to Gilchrist.Ryan Harris then came back for his final over to get another big wicket - that of Dinesh Karthik who was bowled off the last ball of the 19th over.The last over saw 8 runs and 3 wickets falling - among them Dilshan who was run out for a superb 65 off 51 balls - and Delhi ended at 153 for 8. It was not a formidable total, but in a pressure match, with Hyderabad batting second, it was competitive.

Ryan Harris, who'se inclusion at the cost of Dwayne Smith had been questioned by some, was the stand-out bowler returning figures of 4-1-27-3.If Hyderabad had a dream start while bowling, they went one better while batting. They needed 7.65 runs per over when they started their innings, but in one over Adam Gilchrist had brought the required rate down to 7.00, smashing Dirk Nannes for 5 consecutive fours in the first over. Ashish Nehra pulled things back a little by castling Gibbs in the next over, but Delhi needed more than just one wicket to put pressure on the powerful Hyderabad batting line-up. That didn't happen however, as Gilchrist was in a murderous mood, and was swatting fours and sixes like there was no tomorrow. He reached the fastest half-century in the IPL (in both seasons), getting there in just 17 balls. After four overs Hyderabad were 56 for 1, and the required rate had come down to just 6.12. In a desperate measure, Sehwag brought himself on to bowl, and was promptly dispatched for 25 runs, including 3 consecutive sixes. With Delhi looking dazed and battered on the field, Amit Mishra came to their rescue, getting the marauding Gilchrist out when he top-edged a a slog sweep into the hands of Dirk Nannes off the last ball of the tenth over. Gilchrist had made 85 off 35 balls, and put Hyderabad in a position of supreme strenght at 102 for 3 at the strategy break, requiring just 52 runs off the next 10 overs.

Hyderabad progressed serenely towards the target, with no repeat of their frequent chokes that marked some close matches in the league phase, and even though Andrew Symonds fell, they were never in any trouble whatsoever. They eventually won by 6 wickets in 17.4 overs - a comprehensive win if there ever was one. For Delhi only Amit Mishra came out honourably returning impressive figures of 4-0-19-3, but on a day that Gilchrist's bat had no edges and only a middle, just one good bowling performance was never going to be enough for Delhi.It was amongst the most remarkable turn-arounds for a team that had looked incapable of winning anything just a year ago. Delhi were left to ponder on some of their decisions, most notable among them being the non-inclusion of Glenn McGrath for a single match. Virender Sehwag would have been thinking about the what-might-have-beens as the league phase toppers crashed out of the semi-finals for the second time in a row.

Turning Point of the Match:

The first overs of either innings. Delhi lost 2 wickets without scoring a run, and Gilchrist hit five consecutive fours - the overs set the tone for how the match panned out.

Man of the Match:

Adam Gilchrist. No contest. one of the most awesome displays of hitting ever seen in an ODI or a T20 - or a Test match for that matter.

KOLKATA ENDS THE SHOW OF RAJASTHAN FOR IPL-2

Laxmi Ratan Shukla turned in a winning knock as the Kolkata Knight Riders finished their campaign in the Indian Premier League on a high, scoring a thrilling four-wicket win over the Rajasthan Royals in Durban on Wednesday.
Shukla made an unbeaten 48 in a low-scoring game as the Knight Riders posted only their third win in the tournament, and in the process ended the 2008 champions' hopes of progressing to the semi-finals.
Fast bowler Charl Langeveldt had sent down four incisive overs, claiming three wickets for 15 as the Royals were restricted to just 101 for nine in a batting card which also featured three run-outs.
Rajasthan, however, swung the game back their way with a strong performance with the ball as the Knight Riders crashed to 45 for six.
But Shukla put on an unbeaten 57 for the seventh wicket with Ajit Agarkar (14 not out) as the Knight Riders ran out winners.
Kolkata had begun the chase well with Brendon McCullum hammering Munaf Patel for consecutive boundaries in his first over.
But Munaf responded by dismissing Sourav Ganguly for a duck, while McCullum was trapped in front by Amit Singh in the second over.
Yashpal Singh, Brad Hodge, David Hussey and Shoaib Shaikh fell in quick succession, but Shukla took charge and together with Agarkar put the Knight Riders on the path to victory.
Earlier, the Royals had cashed in on a first over of spin from Hodge, but imploded when Langeveldt made early inroads.
Naman Ojha clobbered Hodge for three sixes in the first over, taking a total of 22 from it.
But Langeveldt, playing his first IPL match, effected a turnaround by sending back Ojha (22) and his partner Rob Quiney - both caught behind - in his first two overs.
In between, batsman Swapnil Asnodkar was run out, while Niraj Patel was Langeveldt's third victim.
Johan Botha too was also scalped inside the first 10 overs as the Royals crashed to 59 for five inside the first 10 overs.
Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja attempted a revival, but that brief effort ended when Pathan was run out in the first over after the strategic break.
At the end, Shane Warne chipped in with a knock of 18 which got the Royals to the 100-run mark, a milestone which had looked highly unlikely

ROYAL CHALLENGERS EASILY BEATS DELHI DAREDEVILS BY SEVEN WICKETS

A half-century from Jacques Kallis was the backbone of Royal Challengers Bangalore's innings, as they easily got a comfortable seven-wicket victory over the Delhi Daredevils.
The South African all-rounder finished unbeaten on 58 as his side, who had to win to maintain their semi-final hopes, cruised to their target of 134 with seven wickets and an over to spare.
Earlier, Praveen Kumar took three wickets for Bangalore to restrict Delhi to a mediocre 134 for seven, with Gautam Gambhir (27), AB de Villiers (28) and Dinesh Karthik (31) all getting starts, but failing to build sizeable innings.
Kumar came out firing, striking a double blow in the first over removing the dangerous Virender Sehwag and Mithun Manhas, both without troubling the scorers.
That brought together Gambhir and De Villiers, who battled to really get going despite sharing a 36-run partnership for the third wicket.
But Kallis eventually got the breakthrough when he was gifted the wicket of the Indian, slapping a short and poor delivery straight to Ross Taylor at cover-point leaving Delhi at 37 for three.
De Villiers and Karthik then consolidated, helping their side reach the strategy break with 63 on the board, but the resumption of play spelt the end of the South African, bowled by fellow countryman Roelof van der Merwe.
Anil Kumble then accounted for Andrew McDonald (three) and Yogesh Nagar (20) in quick succession, but late hitting from Karthik and Farveez Maharoof helped their side reach a below-par total.
In response Ashish Nehra struck an early blow when he had Robin Uthappa (two) caught behind in the first over, but Kallis and Rahul Dravid began to slowly rebuild.
They brought up their 50 partnership in 52 deliveries as Bangalore reached the halfway stage at 54 for one.
The pair put on 70 together, before Dravid chipped a simple return catch back to Nagar, but Taylor came in improved the momentum even further by blasting 25 in just 12 balls.
The New Zealander slammed three sixes and four to leave his side needing 34 from 31 balls and Kallis, who raised his 50 in 51 balls, along with Mark Boucher (10 not out) lifted their side to what may turn out to be a priceless win

KOLKATA MADE A HIGHEST RUN CHASE IN IPL-2 TO BEAT CHENNAI

With nothing to lose Kolkata were ready to take on an upbeat Chennai team at the SuperSport Park, looking to end their IPL campaign on a winning note. The Chennai captain MS Dhoni won the toss and looking to put a good score on board, elected to bat first. Chennai had a set-back with the tournament high scorer and the 'Orange Cap' holder Matthew Hayden ruled out due to an injury. He was replaced by the Tasamanian all-rounder George Bailey. Meanwhile Kolkata had four changes - the expensive Mortaza, Shoaib Shaikh, Yashpal Singh and Ishant Sharma went out while Ajantha Mendis, Ashok Dinda, Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Anureet Singh came in.In the absence of Matthew Hayden, George Bailey joined Parthiv Patel at the opening slot. The duo took Chennai off to a quick start, not letting the Kolkata bowlers to settle down. The took advantage of the powerplay overs, scoring at a run-rate of 9 per over, while Kolkata continued with their sorry effort in the fielding department. The Knight Riders finally got the break when a sharp throw from Shukla found Parthiv Patel short of the crease, bringing the 59 run partnership to an end. Things slowed down for Chennai after Parthiv's dismissal. Kolkata pegged things back with the spinners bowled in tandem. The pressure resulted in one more wicket when George Bailey was run-out thanks to one more direct hit by Shukla. Raina and Dhoni got together and took over the responsibility of taking Chennai to a good total. Singles and twos along with regular boundaries was the feature of their partnership. Kolkata's fielding got from bad to worse when Murali Karthik put down a simple chance offered by Dhoni in the 14th over, much to the fury of Agarkar. Raina and Dhoni maintained a good run-rate while entering the death overs. Raina was the first to step on the accelerator, scoring consecutive sixers off Mendis in the 16th over. Raina went on to score his fifty with a six off Dinda. However his innings came to an end just after that when he holed out to Shukla, who looked to be the only fielder in the Knight Riders camp capable of taking the catch. Dhoni and Morkel kept the runs coming, donning the attacking role during the end overs. Morkel finished off the run riot in style with two sixers and a four in the final over taking Chennai to a formidable score of 188/3.With an up-hill task in hand, Brendon McCullum started off aggressively, with boundaries and sixers flowing freely off his bat. His hard hitting ensured that Kolkata's run-rate was on par with Chennai. However, Ganguly on the other hand, was looking like a fish out of the water, struggling to put bat to ball. His misery came to an end when he dragged a Muralitharan delivery back on to the stumps. McCullum was in no mood to give up. He kept the shots coming and went on to register the fastest fifty in the IPL, taking just 21 balls to get there. The Kiwi wicket-keeper played like a man possessed, reminisence of his knock during the first IPL match in 2008 against Bangalore. While he was trying to pull off a victory for the Kolkata side, Hodge played the ideal side-kick as the duo closed in on the required target.Just when things going right for Kolkata, Brendon McCullum's blazing innings came to an end. The Knight Riders captain missed out on a well deserved century after getting out to Jakati on 81 off just 46 balls. His innings included 11 fours and 3 sixers. More drama was to follow when David Hussey was run-out in the 16th over with Kolkata requiring 56 runs to win. Brad Hodge took over and he never let the momentum slip away. He took a leaf out of McCullum's innings and led the path for Kolkata. He went on to score a well made fifty during the process. With good support from Saha, Hodge took it to the last over requiring 6 runs to win. Raina was picked by Dhoni to bowl the final over. However he could not do much as Hodge and Saha held their nerves and took Kolkata to a well deserved victory. Hodge remained unbeaten 71 off just 44 balls. His innings included 4 fours and 4 sixers.A master innings by Brendon McCullum, well complemented by Brad Hodge helped Kolkata to a well deserved victory.

Interesting facts:

Chennai posted 188/3 batting first, their highest total in IPL 2009.Kolkata scored 189/3, their highest total in IPL 2009. It was also the second-highest team score in IPL 2009 behind Rajasthan's 211/4.The 90-run partnership for the second wicket between Brendon McCullum and Brad Hodge was the highest second-wicket stand for Kolkata this season.The 56-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Wriddhiman Saha and Brad Hodge was the highest fourth-wicket stand for Kolkata this season.Brendon McCullum set the record for the fastest in IPL 2009, bringing up his fifty in just 21 balls. He has now equalled the record for the fastest fifty in IPL. (Yusuf Pathan achieved the same feat in IPL 2008 against Deccan Chargers).During his knock of 71*, Brad Hodge became the first Kolkata batsman to go past 300 runs in IPL 2009.When Kolkata chased down 189 on Monday, they set the record for the highest successful chase of IPL 2009.Kolkata's score of 189/3 is the highest score at Supersport Park, Centurion in a Twenty20 match.