Story Mumbai Indians - Duniya Hila Denge Hum!!! - Bangalore in Deep Trouble

[surendar]

Shan, you have passed the biggest & toughest period of this story i.e. gone past the major hectic part of the IPL schedule. Since, you are just few moments away from the finals, all I want to say - Keep the motivation PUMPED UP for the tournament finish. End this with a closing ceremony which makes it complete.

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Sparkling Sangakkara inspires victory

Sangakkara inspires Kings XI Punjab to victory​

Kumar Sangakkara the Kings XI Punjab skipper again made his presence felt in style, carving a 53-ball 81 to fashion a convincing 20-run win for the Kings XI Punjab, their seventh of the tournament. Sangakkara's knock, coupled with a blinder from Yuvraj Singh, lifted Punjab to an imposing 185, which was far too much for the hapless Delhi Daredevils, who lost wickets at regular intervals with only skipper Gautam Gambhir scoring a 53-ball 89.

 

[BKB1991]

Oh Poor stuff from the double-Ds
Gambhir fought hard but was alone

 

[AkshayS]

Sangakkara=great.
I pathan, Sodhi too marvellous.

Liked that you didn't stretched it.

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Jayasuriya stars in thumping Mumbai Indians win

Jayasuriya smashes Munaf Patel for a six​

The crowd at the Swami Mansingh Stadium were in two minds as they supported their home team the Rajasthan Royals as well as they cheered every run scored by Sachin Tendulkar. People who showed up certainly got their money's worth but not the desired result, thanks to a wonderful display of power hitting by the Sri Lanka's first centurion of the IPL this season, Sanath Jayasuriya, and later by Yusuf Pathan. After winning seven of the ten games, the Mumbai Indians booked themselves into the semi-finals with a solid performance in the field to back their batsmen, who piled on 199. Rajasthan barely dominated any passage of play during their chase and fell 67 short of the mark.

Rajasthan looked the more formidable, but only on paper. As is turned out, Rajasthan were caught woefully short on the batting department. The fortunes of both teams after 10 overs told the story - the Mumbai Indians were at 95 for 2; Rajasthan made just 48 with the lost of one wicket. Save for a brief cameo from Yusuf Pathan towards the end, a Mumbai Indians victory was inevitable.

It was a pity in the context of the game that Rajasthan failed to match that total, but Jayasuriya certainly made it a game to remember, not just for himself. Punters would have placed bets on one of the national stars to notch up a century but Jayasuriya grabbed the headlines instead.

He relied more on power rather than timing to fetch his boundaries. He set the tone by slashing Dimitri Mascarenhas past slip and flicking the same bowler off his pads in the opening over of the match. With the ball coming on to the bat, the pair of Jayausriya and Tendulkar willfully chipped down the track to unsettle the lengths of the seamers. Length deliveries were punched down the ground and Yusuf Pathan's was smothered and slogged, even as he tried to vary his length and flight.

It didn't take long for the Mumbai Indians to realise that hitting through the line was the order of the day. As the innings wore on, the Mumbai Indians brought out their paddle scoops and stylish flicks to toy with the Rajasthan Royals attack. Rajasthan could learn a thing or two from the England international Dimitri Mascarenhas, who managed a wicket and changed his pace cleverly to another, that of Sachin Tendulkar.

It was just a matter of seeing off Mascarenhas before launching into the rest. Jayasuriya favoured the wide long-on boundary for his big hits. Shane Warne, Shane Watson and Graeme Smith looked back only to see the ball sail over the ropes. A four down to deep midwicket brought up his fifty but little did Rajasthan know that his job was only half done at that point.

Jayasuriya was particularly harsh on Trivedi, smacking 35 off 14 balls and then taking Munaf Patel for 24 off 16. Considering that they were the quickest of the lot, it was easy for Jayasuriya to use the pace and launch the ball to all parts. When Jayasuriya swooped Trivedi over midwicket, the smile on his face indicated just how much he enjoyed batting in the middle. He was beaming again when he squeezed out a full delivery by Watson to bring up a boundary to third man, and his century.

After Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu were sent back to the pavilion, Duminy came out to biff three sixes in his 22 that entertained the crowd. Rajasthan Royals leaked 104 runs off the last ten overs - a stat which decided which way the match was headed.

Rajasthan invested probably two of their best international batsmen right at the top to get them off to a flier. Graeme Smith and Naman Ojha made an encouraging start with some power hitting through the off side but the joy was short-lived. Ojha fell slashing to third man and Watson perished for 19 off 36 balls, failing to hit a slower one from the young Mumbai bowler.

Yusuf Pathan gave Mumbai Indians a minor scare when he picked Kulkarni and Pollard for four consecutive boundaries after Smith departed making a half century. However his fireworks came very late. Malinga, Kulkarni and Pollard picked one wicket each while Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Jaysuriya were very economical with their bowling.

 

[Varun]

Jayasuriya on fire..... really! The oldie shows that he will never be old, only in a virtual match.

 

[AkshayS]

Oldie is goldie, man.

It would be good, if he turns up the same in real IPL.

 

[surendar]

Sanath is always harsh on Indian pacers He has not only batted exceptionally well, but he has also bowled well without leaking runs. It should be a dream story run for Sanath

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Bangalore wary of 'party-poopers' Deccan Chargers

Bangalore coach Ray Jennings​

They may be struggling for a win and are almost out of semi-final race but Deccan Chargers can spoil others' party and Royal Challengers Bangalore must not be complacent, said coach Ray Jennings.

"It's fair to say that Chargers are struggling in terms of the results. But the teams who face them will be wary that they are due for a victory as well. You must not take them lightly and must not be complacent. On paper, they are a good side like everyone else. Yes, they can be a party-pooper," Jennings told reporters on the eve of their IPL match against Deccan Chargers.

Describing under-fire Herschelle Gibbs as a fine T20 batsman, Jennings said, "There is no doubt about his ability as a T20 batsman. We just hope to continue get him out cheap."

Jennings hinted that the team has an injury concern to one of the main players but refused to divulge. "We have one... but not quite sure. It's not the time to tell you." But he cleared White, who had a stomach bug yesterday. "White is alright, he is good as you saw him today."

The former South African coach also said that they have to win the remainder of matches, to qualify for the semi-finals and also hope for some results to go their way.

 

[just_cricket]

Yeah Gayle's knock was weird dunno how he became that slow.

Anyways a good news for all members who are reading this story. As the league matches are over and the knockout matches start I will be no longer using the PCCS. I will be using the Ashes Cricket 2009 which I downloaded today and I liked the game. Replays are a bit problem but its ok I will try and manage. So guys you may expect some graphics like the one I did in my New Zealand or South Africa story if you may remember.

Hopefully I get the same support that time. Thanks again for you support. :hpraise

Nice updates since then anyway, but what happened to this?

 

[BKB1991]

I think its for the semis....

 

[just_cricket]

Oh ok that makes sense. From the post I quoted, it sounded like he'd finished with Cricsim and that all the group games were over.

However, I should have read the story better and realised that the group stages weren't over!

Nice last post, btw. Jennings had some sensible things to say

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Taylor renew Bangalore hopes

Taylor and Kallis added 113 for the 2nd wicket​

Needing to win all of their remaining games to qualify for the semi-finals, Royal Challengers Bangalore turned in a fine all-round performance in Nagpur, converting a middling target of 147 into a match-winning one. Anil Kumble again showed his captaincy skills and added to that, he bowled a brilliant spell himself. Starting with the promotion of Ross Taylor to number three, who scored 71 off 50 balls, it was the bowling changes which proved crucial in the end as they resulted in the fall of four wickets. The wheels came off the Deccan Chargers and the game was over when they needed an improbable 42 off the last two overs.

 

[AkshayS]

hah A win for RCB.
they can cruise into semis now.

 

[surendar]

I won't call this as an exceptional RCB performance, they just had 140+ on their card. Brilliant thing is Jumbo's tactics during that defending of low score. :hpraise Well done, Jumbo!