McCullum gets top scorer award

Brendon McCullum was on Thursday awarded the T20 Champions Award in the highest individual scorer category.

McCullum, sent a message from Bangladesh, saying he cannot wait to see his fans in Kolkata Knight Riders.

The Kiwi batsman, who turned out for a couple of games for the IPL side, Kolkata Knight Riders, was selected on the basis of his pyrotechnical 158 in the opening game of the Indian domestic T20 championship earlier this year.

The inaugural T20 Champions Award has been instituted by BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa to recognise the best of Twenty20 performances in domestic leagues across all Champions League Twenty20 constituent countries.

McCullum, whose services were secured forr USD 700,000, smashed 10 boundaries and 13 sixes in his 73-ball knock in the first match of the IPL played against Bangalore Royal Challengers at the Chinnaswamy stadium that literally set the tone for the entire tournament.

In that knock, McCullum bettered Cameron White's record of 141 not out off 70 balls, for Somerset against Worcestershire in July 2006.

The wicketkeeper-batsman will, however, not feature in the Champions League Twenty20 because his team Kolkata Knight Riders failed to reach the title round of the IPL.

Tanvir awarded for best bowling

Sohail Tanvir was Thursday awarded at the T20 Champions Award for his superlative show for the Rajasthan Royals.

Tanvir's six for 14 -- the best figures in Twenty20 Cricket -- for eventual IPL champions Royals against runners-up Chennai Super Kings in a league encounter, earned him the award for the best bowling figures in a match.

The inaugural T20 Champions Award has been instituted by BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa to recognise the best of Twenty20 performances in domestic leagues across all Champions League Twenty20 constituent countries.

The red-hot spell from Tanvir decimated the Super Kings for 109 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. That reduced what was billed as a clash for the top spot in the Indian Premier League into a one-sided rout as the Royals chased down the target with eight wickets to spare.

Tanvir's and Royals' dominance in the match was emphasised by a rare sight in Twenty20 cricket - a slip cordon populated by three fielders.

The lanky pacer, who had a fantastic run in the Pakistan domestic T20 championship earlier this month, will turn out for Rajasthan in the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 in December.

Champions League T20 draw announced

Middlesex Crusaders will challenge Victoria Bushrangers in the opening match of the Champions League T-20.

The draws and fixtures were revealed on Thursday night in a glittering function in New Delhi, which also saw the presentation of the inaugural T20 Champions Awards.

The eight teams have been divided into two groups. Chennai Super Kings, Victoria Bushrangers, Pretoria Titans and Middlesex Crusaders have been slotted in Group A, while Group B comprises of Sialkot Stallions, Rajasthan Royals, Western Warriors and Natal Dolphins.

Match one in Mumbai between the English and Australian domestic T20 champions will be followed by a high-voltage contest between IPL champions Rajasthan Royals and Natal Dolphins in Bangalore.

Pakistan T20 champions Sialkot Stallions will take on Aussie T20 runners-up Western Warriors in Bangalore the next day, December 4 followed by a match between IPL runners-up Chennai Super Kings and Victoria Bushrangers in Mumbai.

On December 5, the action will, for the first time in the tournament, shift to Chennai where Middlesex Crusaders take on Pretoria Titans, while Sialkot Stallions come over to Mumbai to take on Rajasthan Royals.

Saturday, December 6 will be a triple treat for fans of the T20 format with three matches slated to be held on that day.

Western Australia will take on Natal Dolphins for the first match of the day in Bangalore while Victoria Bushrangers play Pretoria Titan and Chennai Super Kings play Middlesex Crusaders in Chennai.

Action galore continues on Sunday with the Dolphins taking on the Stallions and the Royals crossing swords with the Warriors in Bangalore. The Super Kings will get another home game in Chennai when they take on Titans for the third game of the day.

The first semi-final of the Champions League T-20 would be played on Monday, December 8 when the first placed team from Group B takes on the second placed team from Group A in Bangalore.

The first placed team from Group A will play the second placed team from Group B in Chennai on Tuesday, December 9 to decide the second finalist.

The final of the Champions League T-20, sure to be a mega-event, will be played in Chennai on Wednesday, December 10 at 20.00 hrs India time.

IPL Cricket stars we miss in May

Indian Premier League teams will miss some match winning foreign cricketers in May. Absence of these stars will have maximum impact on teams like Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad while Teams like Rajasthan, Bangalore and Delhi will be less impacted by their absence. Dale Steyn is the bowler to watch out in May.1. Chennai Super Kings: New Zealand all rounder Jacob Oram and Australian batsman Mathew Hayden and Michael Hussey will not play for Chennai IPL in the next month. Chennai will reach semi-finals but title hopes are almost out of question due to their absence. These three cricketers clean swept all the three man of the match awards in the Chennai matches. Chennai is the most affected team in the Indian Premier League. South African pacer Morkel may fill the void left by Jacob Oram and Stephen Fleming may partially fill the gap left by Michael Hussey. But who will replace Match winner Mathew Hayden?

2. Punjab Kings Eleven: Mohali IPL will miss its strike bowler Brett Lee, Kylie Mills and Simon Katich. It is almost impossible to fill the boots of Australian Speedster.

3. Hyderabad Deccan Chargers: They will miss their star batsman Andrew Symonds. So their hope of reaching semi-finals is almost out of question.

4. Bangalore Royal Challengers: They will miss New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor, Australian speedster Ashley Noffke and West Indies batsman Chanderpaul. But Bangalore fortunes will be boosted by arrivals of South African sensation Dale Steyn. Zaheer Khan, Praveen kumar, Anil Kumble, Dale Steyn and Jacques Kallis may destroy any batting lineup in Indian Premier League.

5. Delhi daredevils: Delhi will not be affected much due to the absence of New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori. South African batsman De Villiers will join the squad.

6. Kolkata Knight Riders: They will miss New Zealand keeper Brendon McCullum, Australian captain Ricky Ponting and West Indies opener Chris Gayle. Ricky Ponting is the biggest disaster in the IPL. But Kolkata bowling will be strengthened by arrival of Umar Gul and Brad Hodge. Critics found answers for questions like why Ponting was less paid in the IPL auction than Hussey brothers. Who will fill replace McCullum?

7. Mumbai Indians: They will not be affected much as they miss the services of Dwayne Bravo only.

8. Rajasthan Royals: Underdogs in April will become hot favourites in May. They will not miss single cricketer in May. Mascarenhas, Sohail Tanvir and Younis Khan will join squad in May.

Australian and New Zealand cricketers dominated the first two weeks in the Indian Premier League with their stunning displays. South African and Pakistan cricketers may dominate the IPL matches in the coming weeks. But audience will surely miss the exemplary displays of cricketers like Mathew Hayden, Hussey Brothers, Brendon McCullum, Oram and Brett Lee. But we will see wonderful cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Dale Steyn, Umar Gul and Morkel in live action in the coming weeks. Some loss and some gain.

Gilchrist decimated Mumbai bowlers

Hyderabad Deccan Chargers won their game in IPL by beating Mumbai Indians at D.Y. Patil stadium in Mumbai. Adam Gilchrist scored fastest century in IPL to setup this emphatic win for Hyderabad IPL team. Hyderabad crushed Mumbai by 10 wickets as Mumbai played without Sachin Tendulkar and suspended Harbhajan Singh. This is the fourth successive defeat for Mumbai IPL team.VVS Laxman first time showed his batting skills and captaincy prowess in this match. But selection politics are still going on. On what criterion, Hyderabad selectors are picking Arjun Yadav over Ravi Teja. Ravi Teja need to switch to IPL as Ambati Rayudu did. Shivlal Yadav family is ruling Hyderabad cricket like their own kingdom. IPL franchisees need passionate owners like Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Vijay Mallya.

IPL Cricket scorecard:

Mumbai Indians: 154/7 in 20 overs.
Hyderabad IPL: 155 for no loss in 12.4 overs.
Result: Hyderabad defeated Mumbai by 10 wickets.

Man of the match: Adam Gilchrist.

IPL Records:

1. Adam Gilchrist scored fastest century in Indian Premier League. He scored this wonderful century in just 42 balls. He hit 9 fours and 10 sixers.
2. This is the first 10 wicket win for any team in IPL tournament.
3. This is the biggest victory in terms of overs left.
4. Australian legend Adam Gilchrist scored his first half century in twenty20 cricket.
5. This is the fourth successive loss by Mumbai Indians.
6. This is the first IPL match at D.Y. Patil stadium.

IPL T20 match highlights:

1. RP Singh bowled a wonderful spell of 4 overs; 15 runs; 2 wickets. Great figures in a twenty20 match.
2. All rounders Shaun Pollock, Abhishek Nayar and Bravo played cameo knocks in the late order to save Mumbai from initial blushes.
3. Mumbai is weakened by the absence of Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh.
4. Adam Gilchrist brutally hit Mumbai captain Shaun Pollock. When Gilchrist is on song, any team can do nothing.

Hyderabad sent warning signals to opposition teams by this emphatic performance. Arrival of Adam Gilchrist into this kind of form is good news at an ideal time. Gilchrist will play entire season but Andrew Symonds played his last match in this season. Herschelle Gibbs will replace Andrew Symonds in the coming matches. But Hyderabad still needs to sort out selection errors to win against strong teams.

IPLCheck sequence of events - Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India's captain in the shorter versions of the game, hopes the authorities will check the sequence of events rather than go by what television footage in the Harbhajan Singh-Sreesanth controversy.

Comparing the row to the one between footballers Zinedine Zidane and Marco Matterazi at the last World Cup final, Dhoni felt that the act of provocation needed to be checked too.

Harbhajan was temporarily suspended from the Mumbai Indians side for allegedly hitting Sreesanth after the match between Mumbai and Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on Friday. His hearing, today, is based on additional footage of the incident from one of the host broadcaster's 21 cameras at the match. In the World Cup final, Zidane was sent off the field for head-butting Matterazi after the latter allegedly provoked him with personal remarks.

"What Zidane did was wrong, but Materazzi also was not completely in the right," Dhoni wrote in his column for the Hindustan Times. "Harbhajan is a very aggressive cricketer who plays hard and is there for his team-mates whenever they need him. Even Sreesanth has seen this supportive side of Harbhajan in the Indian dressing room. Sreesanth is also a very aggressive cricketer who likes to express his highs and lows very passionately on the cricket field. Off the field, you will not meet a more soft-spoken guy than Sree."

Dhoni was happy to know the two players had sorted things out between themselves and said the incident was unlikely to have any effect on the Indian dressing room.

"The incident ... was unfortunate because I know both of them, and they are not bad guys at all. Everybody is passing judgment based on what is reported in the newspapers, and I am too far from the scene to actually comment on it."

IPL BCCI needs to counsel its players - Manjrekar

"The BCCI should look at Harbhajan and Sreesanth as the two cases that they have now got to tackle and ensure that they come back more balanced and are a little more aware of their own behaviour and not go out of control." Sanjay Manjrekar analyses decision to ban Harbhajan Singh for 11 IPL games after the offspinner pleaded guilty to slapping Sreesanth after last Friday's game between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab

IPL Harbhajan faces minimum ten-match ban

Harbhajan Singh faces a minimum ten-match ban from the Indian Premier League if an official hearing, in New Delhi on Monday afternoon, finds him guilty of having hit Sreesanth, his India team-mate.

Harbhajan also faces separate action from the BCCI, which has asked him to explain, "as a contracted player", his role in the incident after the IPL match between the offspinner's Mumbai Indians and Sreesanth's King XI Punjab on Friday. Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said on Monday that Sudhir Nanavati, a lawyer, has been appointed to conduct a "preliminary inquiry" and submit a report "within 15 days" to Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, who will refer the findings to the board's disciplinary committee for possible action.

Sreesanth, meanwhile, faces either an official reprimand or a strong unofficial warning for his "provocative" actions leading up to the incident, which was captured on one of the host broadcaster's on-field cameras.

"I understand the BCCI is looking into the [Harbhajan] matter separately," IS Bindra, a member of the IPL governing council, told Cricinfo. When asked about the possible penalty involved, Bindra, who is also president of the Punjab Cricket Association which hosted Friday's match at Mohali, confirmed that Harbhajan faced a minimum ban of 10 IPL games.

If the minimum ban is applied by Farokh Engineer, the match referee, it would still seriously affect Harbhajan's chances of playing any further role in this edition of the IPL. Mumbai Indians, who lost their first four games, have 10 more to play in the home-and-away league format till the semi-finals.

However, hectic efforts are on by some officials within the BCCI and IPL, run by the Indian board, to ensure that the "judicial principle of double jeopardy" is applied in this case, and Harbhajan is not "punished for the same offence twice". This would mean that the offspinner could be punished by the IPL, which is officially a domestic event, but may not face any separate sanctions from the BCCI on playing for India.

"Any action from the BCCI's side could result in a further ban from playing in a specified number of Tests and ODIs. But that would run contrary to the basic judicial principle of double jeopardy. Normally, any person shouldn't be punished for the same offence twice," a senior official told Cricinfo.

But another section within the Indian establishment, which has had its eye on Harbhajan ever since allegations of indiscipline were reported against him by the team management during the Greg Chappell era, is keen to see that "strong action" is taken to send out a "serious message" in the "larger interests of the game".

Officials from this hardline group were also not entirely convinced of Harbhajan's version of events during the subsequent race row last year involving Andrew Symonds in Australia. "Once Sachin Tendulkar backed Harbhajan's version of the race crisis in Australia, the BCCI had no option but to support him all the way," said another BCCI official, who said he was strongly pushing for a strict penalty.

However, officials on both sides of the Harbhajan debate agree it is time Sreesanth, the temperamental fast bowler who has crossed the line of accepted on-field behaviour often in his two-year career, is pulled up as well, either in the form of an official reprimand or a private warning. "The fresh video evidence might prove Harbhajan is guilty, but nobody should ignore Sreesanth's history of on-field problems and provocative actions leading up to the incident," an IPL official, who was present in Mohali, said on Friday.

Interestingly, Harbhajan and Sreesanth told reporters on Saturday they had "sorted out the issue" and were now like "brothers of one family". But Engineer, the adjudicator on Monday, said: "We are not going to sweep things under the carpet."

Harbhajan banned for 11 IPL games

Harbhajan Singh has been handed an 11-match ban for his altercation with Sreesanth at the end of Mumbai Indians' match against Kings XI Punjab on Friday. The ban, which includes Sunday's match, means he is all but out of the first edition of the IPL - unless Mumbai reach the semi-final of the tournament, which looks highly unlikely at this point.

Sreesanth was let off with a warning after video evidence showed Harbhajan slapped him without any provocation. The duo embraced at the end of the hearing after Harbhajan offered an apology in front of the cameras. Harbhajan will not be appealing against the ban.

"The referee studied video tapes of the incident and found the assault by Harbhajan was totally unprovoked. The footage exactly showed that Harbhajan went down the line, wishing all the players, shaking hands with a few players," said Lalit Modi, the commissioner of the IPL who is also a vice-president of the BCCI. "Sreesanth was the third player that he met. Instead of shaking his hand he actually slapped him and continued down the line, shaking hands with the other players."

Farookh Engineer, the former Indian wicketkeeper who was the match referee, fined Harbhajan 100% of his match fee for Friday's game. He will now be paid only for the first two matches of the IPL.

Lalchand Rajput, the coach of the Mumbai side, has also been found guilty of a level 2 offence and fined 50% of his match fee. "Rajput was right behind Harbhajan when the incident took place," said Modi. "He didn't take any step to restrain him. He has been fined 50% of his match fee."

Harbhajan also faces separate action from the Indian board, which has asked him to explain, "as a contracted player", his role in the incident which came to light after Sreesanth broke down in front of the cameras.

Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said on Monday that Sudhir Nanavati, a lawyer, has been appointed to conduct a "preliminary inquiry" and submit a report "within 15 days" to Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, who will refer the findings to the board's disciplinary committee for possible action.

Shah also confirmed that Harbhajan had replied to the board's show-cause notice. "He has given his reply, but I cannot reveal its contents."

IPLDeccan Chargers v Rajasthan Royals, IPL, Hyderabad

Twenty20 match
Indian Premier League - 9th match
Deccan Chargers v Rajasthan Royals 2007/08 season

Played at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad, on 24 April 2008 - day/night (20-over match)

Result Rajasthan Royals won by 3 wickets (with 1 ball remaining)


Deccan Chargers innings (20 overs maximum) R B 4s 6s SR
wicketkeeper AC Gilchrist st wicketkeeperKamran Akmal b Pathan 13 9 3 0 144.44
captain VVS Laxman c & b Warne 16 16 3 0 100.00
Shahid Afridi c Jadeja b Pathan 10 4 1 1 250.00
A Symonds not out 117 53 11 7 220.75
RG Sharma c Salunkhe b Warne 36 30 3 1 120.00
AS Yadav c wicketkeeperKamran Akmal b Watson 16 9 3 0 177.77
Extras (w 5, nb 1) 6

Total (5 wickets; 20 overs) 214 (10.70 runs per over)

Did not bat SB Bangar, WPUJC Vaas, RP Singh, PP Ojha, D Kalyankrishna

Fall of wickets1-22 (Gilchrist, 2.2 ov), 2-32 (Shahid Afridi, 2.6 ov), 3-75 (Laxman, 8.3 ov), 4-186 (Sharma, 17.6 ov), 5-214 (Yadav, 19.6 ov)


Bowling O M R W Econ
MM Patel 4 0 55 0 13.75 (2w)
SR Watson 4 0 32 1 8.00 (2w)
YK Pathan 2 0 20 2 10.00
Pankaj Singh 2 0 14 0 7.00
SK Trivedi 3 0 37 0 12.33 (1nb)
SK Warne 4 0 47 2 11.75 (1w)
D Salunkhe 1 0 9 0 9.00


Rajasthan Royals innings (target: 215 runs from 20 overs) R B 4s 6s SR
wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal c Bangar b Vaas 12 9 1 1 133.33
GC Smith c Kalyankrishna b Shahid Afridi 71 45 9 2 157.77
YK Pathan c Symonds b Kalyankrishna 61 28 4 6 217.85
SR Watson b Shahid Afridi 4 6 0 0 66.66
M Kaif c Symonds b Shahid Afridi 34 16 2 3 212.50
RA Jadeja b Singh 1 3 0 0 33.33
captain SK Warne not out 22 9 2 2 244.44
D Salunkhe run out (Laxman/Singh) 1 1 0 0 100.00
Pankaj Singh not out 4 3 0 0 133.33
Extras (lb 4, w 2, nb 1) 7

Total (7 wickets; 19.5 overs) 217 (10.94 runs per over)

Did not bat SK Trivedi, MM Patel

Fall of wickets1-14 (Kamran Akmal, 2.1 ov), 2-112 (Pathan, 9.3 ov), 3-126 (Watson, 11.6 ov), 4-186 (Kaif, 17.1 ov), 5-187 (Smith, 17.2 ov), 6-195 (Jadeja, 18.2 ov), 7-196 (Salunkhe, 18.4 ov)


Bowling O M R W Econ
WPUJC Vaas 4 0 42 1 10.50
RP Singh 4 0 44 1 11.00 (1nb, 1w)
PP Ojha 2 0 23 0 11.50
D Kalyankrishna 3 0 30 1 10.00
Shahid Afridi 4 0 28 3 7.00 (1w)
A Symonds 2.5 0 46 0 16.23

Toss Rajasthan Royals, who chose to field first
Points Rajasthan Royals 2, Deccan Chargers 0

Player of the match YK Pathan (Rajasthan Royals)

Umpires Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and MR Benson (England)
TV umpire SL Shastri
Match referee S Venkataraghavan
Reserve umpire SS Shamsuddin

Match notes

* Deccan Chargers innings
* Deccan Chargers: 50 runs in 5.2 overs (32 balls), Extras 0
* A Symonds: 50 off 29 balls (6 x 4, 2 x 6)
* Deccan Chargers: 100 runs in 11.2 overs (70 balls), Extras 2
* 4th Wicket: 50 runs in 31 balls (A Symonds 34, RG Sharma 17, Ex 1)
* Deccan Chargers: 150 runs in 15.2 overs (95 balls), Extras 3
* A Symonds: 100 off 47 balls (9 x 4, 6 x 6)
* 4th Wicket: 100 runs in 54 balls (A Symonds 65, RG Sharma 35, Ex 2)
* Deccan Chargers: 200 runs in 18.6 overs (119 balls), Extras 5
* Innings Break: Deccan Chargers - 214/5 in 20.0 overs (A Symonds 117)

* Rajasthan Royals innings
* Rajasthan Royals: 50 runs in 4.3 overs (28 balls), Extras 3
* 2nd Wicket: 50 runs in 20 balls (GC Smith 21, YK Pathan 29, Ex 1)
* YK Pathan: 50 off 21 balls (2 x 4, 6 x 6)
* Rajasthan Royals: 100 runs in 8.3 overs (52 balls), Extras 3
* GC Smith: 50 off 34 balls (7 x 4, 1 x 6)
* Rajasthan Royals: 150 runs in 14.5 overs (90 balls), Extras 4
* 4th Wicket: 50 runs in 24 balls (GC Smith 17, M Kaif 32, Ex 1)
* Rajasthan Royals: 200 runs in 19.1 overs (118 balls), Extras 7

IPL. Warne gatecrashes Symonds' party

Deccan Chargers v Rajasthan Royals, IPL, Hyderabad
Shane Warne inspired Rajasthan Royals to a sensational come-from-behind win against Deccan Chargers by capping outstanding leadership and canny bowling with a 17-run charge in the last over.

The three-wicket victory - which was decided, for the second successive day, off the penultimate ball of the match - made Rajasthan the first team in the IPL to chase down a 200-plus score. They now lie fourth with four points from three games while Deccan, for whom Andrew Symonds scored a century and bowled the fateful final over, lost their third match in a row and remain at the bottom of the table.

In the penultimate over, it had seemed Rajasthan were out of the chase with RP Singh effecting two dismissals and conceding only six runs. Before that Shahid Afridi and Symonds had bowled in tandem to keep the scoring under check between overs 12 and 14, but Mohammad Kaif changed all that in the next where he hit three sixes off Symonds. Afridi dismissed Shane Watson, Kaif and Graeme Smith and conceded only 28 runs. But having exhausted his main bowlers, VVS Laxman was forced to turn to Symonds for the decisive last over.

That began with the odds stacked against Rajasthan. Pankaj Singh took three off the first two balls before giving the strike to Warne. He then hit a four over Symonds' head, leaving ten to get off the last three balls. Warne needed just two of them, off which he hit consecutive sixes to spark scenes of wild celebrations among his team-mates.

What set up the chase, though, was the 98-run partnership between Yusuf Pathan and Smith. The two were mindful of the run-rate they had to maintain right from the start and went past 100 in 8.3 overs, which made Rajasthan the fastest side to get to that figure in the tournament.

Yusuf belied his lithe frame to get the ball into the stands several times while recording the fastest fifty of the tournament. He didn't move his feet much but used all his strength as he reached out and swung his bat at everything. He fell in similar fashion, not moving his feet when he reached for a wide one off D Kalyankrishna and found Symonds at long-off. Smith was more conventional though equally attacking. He drove down the ground and cut behind third man for boundaries.

Test cricket had been unlucky not to witness Warne as captain. Before his last-over heroics, he used his bowlers effectively to dent Deccan's start. He brought on Yusuf in the third over - to replace Munaf Patel, who went for 12 in his opening effort - and was rewarded with the wickets of Adam Gilchrist and Afridi. Though Symonds more than made up for the poor start, Rajasthan's target could have been much higher had Gilchrist built on his three fours. Warne also made Yusuf bat at No. 3 for the second game in a row, after getting him to open in their first match.

Laxman's captaincy was very poor in comparison - his decision to open the innings with Gilchrist failed, as did his bowling change in the sixth over to bring on left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who went for 16 runs. But even Warne had no tricks against Symonds, who showed his two initial failures were blips with an innings that included powerful straight fours and sixes mostly by making room in the crease.

He did not indulge in unconventional strokes - except a short ball that he pulled tennis-style late in the innings - and stuck mostly to back-foot drives and flicks. He reached his half-century off 29 balls and then took only 18 more to get to his hundred. His 111-run partnership with Rohit Sharma, who scored a half-century in the previous match, ruined the Rajasthan bowlers' early efforts. Now Deccan will have to rethink their bowling strategies after losing a game that was firmly in their grasp.

Indian Premier League: Hayden the star for super kings

Matthew Hayden and Suresh Raina put on 104 to guide Chennai Super Kings to a winning 208 for 5 total after they were put in by Mumbai Indians’ skipper Harbhajan Singh.

Despite a spirited late rally from the Indians’ lower order, they lost by six runs in one of the matches of the tournament so far.

A regular stream of wickets never allowed Mumbai to really get going, but a marvellous 45 in just 20 balls by Abishek Nayar batting No 6 left them tantalisingly short of victory after they needed 19 runs off the last over.

Earlier Hayden had stroked a superb 81 off 46 balls before he was run out, and it gave the Super Kings the platform to pass 200 for the second match in succession.

Hayden began by despatching a short one from Nehra to bring up the 200th four of the tournament, before a mishit just found its way over gully.

He was joined by Raina who was content to give the strike to his Australian team mate early on, after Michael Hussey fell cheaply.

Dwayne Bravo, a last-minute addition to the Mumbai Indians squad, was belted back for four by Hayden who nearly took out his batting partner with the straight boundary.

After 10 overs, Super Kings were at 82 for 2, which became 112 for 2 after 12. Bravo was pulled for six over midwicket as Raina decided to open up and then smashed Vikrant Yeligati, playing his first game, for two fours.

Musavir Khote, the eighth and the last bowler, finally removed Raina after the batsman reached 53 off 37 balls and had contributed to only the third century partnership of the tournament.

Skipper M.S. Dhoni’s arrival meant there was no let-up in the scoring. He pulverised two fours off Bravo on his way to a two-runs-a-ball 30, before Hayden paddled another and smashed one straight past Dhoni’s head before he was run out.

Indian Premier League: Heroes of the Day

What English Premier League (EPL) is to Football, Indian Premier League (IPL) is to cricket . Fast & Furious, Entertaining & Exciting, Cheerleaders & Auctions… It has everything. EPL has its heroes: David Beckham, Christiano Ronaldo, Fernando Torres, Wayne Rooney and the list goes on. So does IPL: MS Dhoni, Sachin, Sourav, Rahul, and international stalwarts Symonds, Ponting, Hayden, Afrid and so on. Right from the club formations till the auctions, from inaugural ceremony till match reports - everything can be compared between IPL and EPL. In this view, let us look at the comparison between the heroes of IPL and compare them with EPL Stalwarts.

Sachin Tendulkar The David Beckham cricket - highest grosser and an icon of the game they excel in. Sachin the icon of cricket, Beckham is the icon of modern soccer.

MS Dhoni: Ronaldo of cricket. Both of them are heartthrob of the millions of girls who look at the screen only to have a glance of their hero.

Rahul Dravid: Cool, composed and an amazing temprament. Only Peiro can match him in all three. Dravid also has a Classic Defense like ManU’s Nemenja Vidic and can score when required.

Sourav Ganguly: Striker of the ball and has been performing for several years. He’s the true Ronaldo of Indian cricket. Has been around for quite some time and still going strong.

Yuvraj Singh: The good looks combined with high scoring innings. Dates and has dated several bollywood beauties. Somewhat like the Vieri of ACF Fiorentina. Both of them are very hard strikers.

Irfan Pathan: The dependable lad can score with both - ball as well as bat. Coming from a working-class family, he has shot to fame very much like Wayne Rooney.

Watch this space for more comparisons between fan clubs, cheerleaders, and much more. Till then, enjoy the cricket!

IPL TeamKOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS

Sourav Ganguly
captian





Shoaib Akhtar
Ricky Ponting
Brendon McCullum
Chris Gayle
Ajit Agarkar
David Hussey
Ishant Sharma
Murali Kartik
Umar Gul
Misbah-ul-Haq
Tatenda Taibu
Salman Butt
Mohammad Hafeez
Siddarth Kaul
Iqbal Abdulla

IPL Team JAIPUR RAJASTHAN ROYALS

Shane Warne
captian






Graeme Smith
Younis Khan
Kamran Akmal
Yusuf Pathan
Mohammad Kaif
Munaf Patel
Justin Langer
Dimitri Mascarenhas
Morne Morkel
Shane Watson
Sohail Tanvir
Ravindra Jadeja
Tauwar Kohli

IPL Team - Deccan Chargers

VVS Laxman
Captain



Sanjay Bangar
Halhadar Das (wk)
Herschelle Gibbs
Adam Gilchrist (wk)
Doddapaneni Kalyankrishna
Pragyan Ojha
Dwaraka Ravi Teja
PM Sarvesh Kumar
Shahid Afridi
Rohit Sharma
Chamara Silva
RP Singh
Scott Styris
Andrew Symonds
Chaminda Vaas
Venugopal Rao
Paidikalva Vijaykumar
Arjun Yadav
Nuwan Zoysa
Robin Singh (Coach)

IPL Team - Chennai Super Kings

MS Dhoni
Captain



Viraj Vilas Kadbe
Palani Amarnath
Manpreet Gony
Srikkanth Anirudha
R Ashwin
Subramaniam Badrinath
Lakshmipathy Balaji
Napoleon Einstein
Stephen Fleming
Matthew Hayden
Michael Hussey
Shadab Jakati
Joginder Sharma
Arun Karthik
Suresh Kumar
Albie Morkel
Abhinav Mukund
Muttiah Muralitharan
Makhaya Ntini
Jacob Oram
Parthiv Patel (wk)
Suresh Raina
Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan
Sudeep Tyagi
Kepler Wessels (Coach)

IPL Team - Mumbai Indians

Sachin Tendulkar
Captain



Loots Bosman
Ankeet Chavan
Siddharth Chitnis
Gaurav Dhiman
Dilhara Fernando
Harbhajan Singh
Sanath Jayasuriya
Musavir Khote
Dhawal Kulkarni
Lasith Malinga
Abhishek Nayar
Ashish Nehra
Manish Pandey
Rajesh Pawar
Shaun Pollock
Ashwell Prince
Ajinkya Rahane
Rohan Raje
Luke Ronchi
Pinal Shah (wk)
Swapnil Singh
Yogesh Vijay Takawale (wk)
Dominic Thornely
Saurabh Tiwary
Robin Uthappa
Vikrant Yeligati
Lalchand Rajput (Coach)

IPL Team - Kings XI Punjab

Yuvraj Singh
Captain




Ajitesh Argal
Piyush Chawla
Pankaj Dharmani
Rishi Dhawan
Karan Goel
James Hopes
Mahela Jayawardene
Simon Katich
Uday Kaul
Sahil Kukreja
Brett Lee
Shaun Marsh
Kyle Mills
Wilkin Mota
Irfan Pathan
Luke Pomersbach
Ramesh Powar
Nitin Saini
Kumar Sangakkara
Ramnaresh Sarwan
Vikram Singh
Sunny Sohal
Sreesanth
Tanmay Srivastava
Tom Moody (Coach)

IPL Team - Delhi Daredevils

Virender Sehwag
Captain


Rajat Bhatia
AB de Villiers
Shikhar Dhawan
Tillakaratne Dilshan
Gautam Gambhir
Brett Geeves
Dinesh Karthik
Glenn McGrath
Farveez Maharoof
Yo Mahesh
Mithun Manhas
Amit Mishra
Mohammad Asif
Yogesh Nagar
Pradeep Sangwan
Shoaib Malik
Mayank Tehlan
Manoj Tiwary
Daniel Vettori
Tejashwi Yadav
Greg Shipperd (Coach)

IPL Team - Bangalore Royal Challengers

Rahul Dravid
Captain




Abdur Razzak
Balachandra Akhil
KP Appanna
Jagadeesh Arunkumar
Mark Boucher (wk)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Bharat Chipli
Shreevats Goswami (wk)
Wasim Jaffer
Sunil Joshi
Jacques Kallis
Zaheer Khan
Virat Kohli
Praveen Kumar
Anil Kumble
Misbah-ul-Haq
Ashley Noffke
Devraj Patil
Dale Steyn
Ross Taylor
Vinay Kumar
Cameron White
Nathan Bracken
Venkatesh Prasad (Coach)