Match 17 : Delhi DareDevils Vs Banglore Royal Challengers

Bangalore Short By 10 Runs

Riding on a brilliant half-century from Gautam Gambhir, the Delhi Daredevils defeated bottom-placed Bangalore Royal Challengers by 10 runs in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match here on Wednesday night.

Chasing a target of 192, the Challengers could only make 181 for five wickets from 20 overs at the full-capacity Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium.

The Daredevils moved to the second spot in the IPL standings after their third victory from four matches while the Royal Challengers' misery continued as they were left languishing at the bottom of the standings of the eight-team league after four losses from five matches.

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Gambhir, who struck 86 off 54 balls, was the hero of the day as he helped the Daredevils post a challenging total. Shikhar Dhawan with his well-struck 50 from 33 deliveries gave him support as the Delhi team rediscovered their momentum after losing their last match against Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on Sunday night .

Chasing 192 was always going to be tough for the visitors and they failed to get a good partnership going. Jacques Kallis was the top scorer with 54 while skipper Rahul Dravid made 38.

For the Daredevils, Glenn McGrath (4-29) was the top performer with the ball.

Put into bat, the stage was set for Daredevils batsmen to fire on a good batting track. Much was expected from Daredevils skipper Virender Sehwag (24) who shone albeit momentarily.

Gambhir started the fireworks in the second over as he hit Zaheer Khan for three consecutive boundaries. In the next over, he was again severe on South African pacer Dale Steyn, hitting the pacer for two sweetly-timed boundaries.

Gambhir's big hits inspired Sehwag and again Zaheer was on the firing line. Sehwag spanked his first three deliveries for 6, 4 and 4 to get the partisan crowd swaying.

The Kotla track is never known to assist seamers and by now Dravid that his decision to bowl first had backfired.

The Challengers skipper replaced Zaheer with Vinay Kumar but the result was the same, as he could not find any solution to stop the Daredevils openers from playing their shots.

It was the fielders who gave the Bangalore team their first breakthrough when Ross Taylor's direct throw from point found Sehwag short of ground in the fifth over.

Dhawan joined the party in the middle and did not take much time to settle down. Dhawan and Gambhir applied themselves cleverly and found the gaps at a rapid pace.

The duo added 98 runs for the second wicket and left Dravid struggling for ideas.

Vinay Kumar gave Dhawan width and the Delhi batsman's delicate cuts raced onto the boundary.

Dhawan adapted well to the slow deliveries of Kallis and hit the South African for a huge six. However, Kallis had the last laugh after Dravid took a stunning catch at the midwicket to end the young batsman's 33-ball innings.

Gambhir on the other end was in fine touch. His boundaries were a treat to watch. His knock finally came to an end in the 19th over after he miscued Zaheer's delivery and Parveen Kumar lapped up the resultant catch at deep midwicket. But by then the Delhi opener had set the stage for his team's win.

Match 16 : Mumbai Indians Vs Kolkata Knight Riders

Finally Mumbai Indians Flight Take Off

Mumbai finally produced a spirited team effort that helped end their drought in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Eden Gardens here on Tuesday. A seven-wicket win over Kolkata came after a four-match losing streak that had buried Mumbai at the bottom of the points table.

Dwayne Bravo, Robin Uthappa, Sanath Jayasuriya and Shaun Pollock all played their parts to aptness as Mumbai put behind a forgettable phase that included their stand-in skipper, Harbhajan Singh, being barred from participation in the tournament after their third match.

Chasing a target of 138 too had not looked easy for Mumbai as they lost three quick wickets, but a 113-run unbroken partnership between Bravo (64) and Uthappa (37) ensured that a fine bowling performance led by Jayasuriya and Pollock did not go waste.

Bravo generally offered a straight bat and excelled playing the lofted drive during his 53-ball knock in which he slammed eight fours and a six. On the other hand, Uthappa was not averse to playing square of the wicket despite being dropped early on at point, smashing five fours during his run-a-ball knock.

The duo struck in tandem after Ajit Agarkar, Ishant Sharma and Ashoke Dinda picked up a wicket each to reduce Mumbai to 25-3 in the fifth over.

Earlier, veteran all-rounders Jayasuriya and Pollock put their experience to good use as they restricted Kolkata to 137-8. Jayasuriya returned the best figures of the tournament (3-14) after Pollock had done the initial damage (2-27).

Jayasuriya, who was named ‘man of the match’, had David Hussey and Ajit Agarkar caught by Ashish Nehra at long-on in identical fashion. Between those two dismissals, he also removed Mohammad Hafeez while Ponting was run out as Kolkata slipped from 74-3 in the 12th over to 77-6 in the 14th and then to 90-7 by the 16th over.

Laxmi Rattan Shukla then produced a brisk knock of 40 from 22 deliveries, sending the ball to all parts of the ground much to the delight of the home crowd. The former India all-rounder, who had scored a similar 42 against Chennai, struck four fours and two sixes during his crucial knock and made batting look easy on a slow but bouncy pitch.

Earlier, Pollock, leading the team since Harbhajan Singh’s ouster from the tournament because of a ban, produced an inspired first over in which he dismissed openers Brendon McCullum and Sourav Ganguly.

Pollock had Ganguly caught by Jayasuriya at slip immediately after the left-hander had dispatched a delivery from the South African to the mid-wicket boundary with a short-arm pull. Pollock then trapped McCullum leg-before as he shuffled across.

Debabrata Das was the third batsman to be dismissed, his flurry of shots on the leg side getting him 29 off 19, but a slash outside off giving Dwayne Bravo a wicket in his first over. Robin Uthappa, fielding at point, accepted the catch gleefully and followed it with a trademark bow.

Going into the match, Mumbai had yet to earn a point after four outings while Kolkata were third on the points table with two wins from three matches.

Mumbai have had to do without skipper Sachin Tendulkar thus far but Pollock did a fine job in marshalling his resources.

Teams:

Mumbai: Sanath Jayasuriya, Robin Uthappa, Shaun Pollock (capt), Abhishek Nayar, Dwayne Bravo, Pinal Shah (wk), Manish Pandey, Ashish Nehra, Dhaval Kulkarni, Dilhara Fernando.

Kolkata: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Brendon McCullum (wk), Ricky Ponting, Debabrata Das (wk), David Hussey, Mohammad Hafeez, Laxmi Rattan Shukla, Ajit Agarkar, Murali Kartik, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Dinda.

Umpire suspended for comments on Bhajji row

New Delhi: The IPL management appears to be extremely serious about not allowing the controversy involving Harbhajan Singh and S Sreesanth to escalate any further.

Umpire Amiesh Saheba, who was quoted in a regional newspaper as saying that Sreesanth was provoking Mumbai Indian players during the match was suspended for two games for his comments on S Sreesanth.

Saheba has been given 48 hours to reply to that notice and faces a two-match suspension.

Saheba, who was officiated the game, had said that Sreesanth had commented on the other players in the opposition team and the senior umpire on the field, Aleem Dar, had also been informed about the incident.

He went on to claim that the bowler was warned twice during the game. He also said that he was not asked by match referee Farokh Engineer to testify in the case.

The decision of the panel concluded that the attack from Harbhajan was 'unprovoked'.

Match 15 - Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Chennai Super Kings

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni led from the front, scoring an outstanding half-century to guide Chennai Super Kings to a 13-run victory over Bangalore Royal Challengers in their IPL match on Monday.

Captain Dhoni hit a fabulous 30-ball 65, with 9 fours and 3 sixes in the able company of Michael Hussey (47 off 38 balls) to take his team to a competitive 178-5 in their alloted 20 overs, even as the other Chennai batsmen struggled for the most part of the innings, after Dhoni opted to bat first.

The duo - Dhoni & Hussey shared a crucial 95-run stand for the fourth wicket.

In reply, Bangalore got off to a flying start and at one stage it looked like the hosts would simply run away with the match but the Chennai bowlers, led by Manpreet Gony (3-34), suddenly turned the tide, triggering a well-scripted collapse.

From 127-2 in 14 overs, Bangalore could just manage to add another 34 runs in the next five overs, losing seven wickets in the process.

Gony got the crucial breakthrough for Chennai when in his one over he saw off both Mark Boucher (4) and Rahul Dravid (0) to push Bangalore on to the back foot.

Needing 17 to win in the last over, the local favourites got bundled out for 165 with 2 balls to spare.

Bangalore lost opener Chipli early, but Wasim Jaffer played a fine knock of 50 off just 33 balls, even though he was dropped twice at 7 and 18.

In fact, Jaffer and Ross Taylor (53 off 34 balls) put on 89 runs together for the second wicket to lay a perfect platform for their team, bringing up 102-2 in 11 overs. But their efforts just went in vain.

Chennai team who opted for an all pace attack, bringing in Albie Morkel in place of Muttiah Muralitharan got the desired result. Apart from Gony, Joginder Sharma (2-27) and Palani Amarnath (2-37) also returned impressive figures, while Morkel took 1-38.

Earlier, an excellent effort by Bangalore bowling unit, who left out Anil Kumble and Sunil Joshi for this match, never let Chennai batters flourish, initially and Chennai could manage to bring up their 100 only in the 15th over.

But some late smashing by Hussey and Man-of-the-match Dhoni put them back on track and in the penultimate over, the skipper took 24 runs of Dale Steyn's over, which ultimately proved to be the difference in the game.

Earlier, the openers - Matthew Hayden and Parthiv Patel failed to give the kind of start Chennai wanted.

Up against a fine pace bowling unit of Zaheer Khan (3-38) and Praveen Kumar, Chennai found it hard to get into the rhythm and lost both the openers early.

Suresh Raina (28) though was playing well but got unlucky to get run-out.

However, thereafter, Hussey continued to play his shorts well but Dhoni adopted a cautious approach but one he got into the groove, he overtook his partner and in no time reached his fifty.

Chennai now are leading the points table with all four wins to their credit, while Bangalore have managed to bag just one match out of 4 they have played so far.

Teams:

Bangalore Royal Challengers: Rahul Dravid (capt), Wasim Jaffer, Ross Taylor, Jacques Kallis, Virat Kohli, Mark Boucher, Balachandra Akhil, Bharat Chipli, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Dale Steyn.

Chennai Super Kings: Matthew Hayden, Parthiv Patel, Michael Hussey, Subramaniam Badrinath, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Jacob Oram, Albie Morkel, Joginder Sharma, Palani Amarnath, Manpreet Gony.

Match 14: Mumbai Indians vs Hyderabad Deccan Chargers

Adam Gilchrist destroys Mumbai

Adam Gilchrist couldn't have chosen a better stage than this to come good. Playing in a packed spanking new stadium, he stunned the Mumbai Indians with a blitzkrieg century to script a ten-wicket win in just 12.4 overs.

Gilchrist scored 109 not out off just 48 balls, getting to his century off only 42 deliveries, overtaking teammate Andrew Symonds' effort off 48 balls.

VVS Laxman kept Gilchrist company with a knock of 36 not out, but it was Gilchrist's game. He hit ten sixes and nine fours during his stay on the crease.

Abhishek Nayar and Dwayne Bravo got Mumbai Indians to something of a total as they carried their side to 154-7 in a game they need to win to get some points on the board.

Nayar scored 34 balls off 19 balls with three sixes and one four, while Bravo scored the same number of runs in one ball lesser, with the aid of one six and three boundaries.

For Hyderabad, RP Singh returned figures of 2-15 while Sanjay Bangar and Shahid Afridi also got two wickets each.

Visiting skipper VVS Laxman took the first step right, winning the toss the electing to field.

Mumbai were rocked by the Harbhajan Singh controversy, were again denied the services of Sachin Tendulkar, and will also miss Harbhajan, who has been suspended, pending the IPL match referee's inquiry on Monday.

Shaun Pollock led the skipper for the home team for this match.

Hyderabad decided to rest Chaminda Vaas and called up his Sri Lankan teammate Nowan Zoysa.

Teams: Mumbai Indians: Shaun Pollock (capt), Luke Ronchi, Sanath Jayasuriya, Robin Uthappa, Ajinkya Rahane, Dwayne Bravo, Abhishek Nayar, Musavir Khote, Ashish Nehra, Dhawal Kulkarni, Siddharth Chitnis.

Hyderabad Deccan Chargers: VVS Laxman (capt), Adam Gilchrist, Shahid Afridi, Andrew Symonds, Rohit Sharma, Arjun Yadav, Sanjay Bangar, Nuwan Zoysa, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha, D Kalyankrishna.

Match Result: Hyderabad beat Mumbai by 10 wickets
Man of the match: Adam Gilchrist

Mumbai

Batsman	Status	Runs	Balls	4's	6's
Luke Ronchi (W)	c VVS Laxman b RP Singh	13	11	3	0
Sanath Jayasuriya	c Rohit Sharma b Shahid Afridi	18	21	2	0
Ajinkya Rahane	c Pragyan Ojha b Sanjay Bangar	0	7	0	0
Robin Uthappa	c Adam Gilchrist b Shahid Afridi	6	5	1	0
Shaun Pollock (C)	b Sanjay Bangar	31	31	3	1
Abhishek Nayar	c Adam Gilchrist b Nuwan Zoysa	34	19	1	3
Dwayne Bravo	c Pragyan Ojha b RP Singh	34	18	3	1
Musavir Khote	not out	7	10	1	0
Siddharth Chitnis
Dhawal Kulkarni
Ashish Nehra

Total: 154 for 7 in 20.0 overs Run Rate: 7.7 Extras : 11 (b - 2, w - 3, nb - 2, lb - 4, Penalty - 0)

Fall of wickets:1/15 (Luke Ronchi 2.2 ov.), 2/18 (Ajinkya Rahane 3.5 ov.), 3/27 (Robin Uthappa 5.2 ov.), 4/55 (Sanath Jayasuriya 10.3 ov.), 5/79 (Shaun Pollock 13.3 ov.), 6/122 (Abhishek Nayar 16.3 ov.), 7/154 (Dwayne Bravo 20 ov.)

Bowlers	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Wides	Noballs
RP Singh	4	1	15	2	2	0
Nuwan Zoysa	4	0	30	1	1	1
Sanjay Bangar	4	0	34	2	0	0
Shahid Afridi	4	0	32	2	0	1
Pragyan Ojha	2	0	14	0	0	0
Doddapaneni Kalyankrishna	2	0	23	0	0	0

Hyderabad

Batsman	Status	Runs	Balls	4's	6's
Adam Gilchrist (W)	not out	109	48	9	10
VVS Laxman (C)	not out	36	29	5	0
Shahid Afridi
Andrew Symonds
Rohit Sharma
Arjun Yadav
Sanjay Bangar
Nuwan Zoysa
RP Singh
Pragyan Ojha
Doddapaneni Kalyankrishna

Total: 155 for 0 in 12.4 overs Run Rate: 12.24 Extras : 10 (b - 4, w - 4, nb - 0, lb - 2, Penalty - 0)

Fall of wickets:

Bowlers	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Wides	Noballs
Ashish Nehra	2	0	19	0	0	0
Shaun Pollock	2	0	33	0	0	0
Dhawal Kulkarni	1	0	8	0	0	0
Sanath Jayasuriya	2	0	17	0	0	0
Siddharth Chitnis	2	0	20	0	1	0
Dwayne Bravo	2.4	0	30	0	2	0
Abhishek Nayar	1	0	22	0	1	0

Punjab Kings Vs Delhi Daredevils

Australian left-hander Simon Katich scored a confident 75 to steer Kings XI Punjab to an easy four-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils in their Indian Premier League match here today.

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This was second successive victory for the hosts in three days and first defeat in the tournament for the Delhi team.

Chasing a modest target of 159, the Aussie playing his second match, did not lose nerves despite losing his opening partner Karan Goel (1) and Kumar Sangakkara (4) and made the run chase look easy.

The 32-year-old was in total command hitting fluent shots, with pacers Farveez Maharoof and Mohammed Asif getting the stick.

Katich took just 52 balls to produce a scintillating knock, which was adorned with 11 boundaries and a six before running himself out following a mix-up with his skipper.

After Katich got out in the 14th over when the team score was 119, Yuvraj, who had come at the fall of Mahela Jayawardene (15), took his team to a smooth victory.

The skipper played a solid 40-run knock and hit the winning runs in the last over.

Mohammed Asif bagged two wickets while Glenn McGrath, Yo Mahesh and Shoaib Malik took a wicket each for Daredevils.

After crushing Rajasthan Royals in Delhi and Deccan Chargers in Hyderabad, Daredevils tasted their first defeat in the tournament.

Rajasthan Royals Vs Bangalore Royal Challengers

Australian allrounder Shane Watson hit a fluent unbeaten 61 to take Rajasthan Royals to an easy seven-wicket win with 2.5 overs to spare against Bangalore Royal Challengers in the IPL tie played at M Chimnaswamy stadium.

After putting the visitors in the right track by restricting Bangalore to a modest 135 for eight by claiming two quick wickets, the Queenslander hit his second successive half century, both match-winning knocks, to help Rajasthan earn their third successive win in four matches.

Scorecard

Bangalore crashed to their second defeat and now has just one win in three matches.

He added a commanding 104 for the third wicket with South African skipper Graeme Smith 49 (42b, 8x4) to give no chance for the home team to make something out of its modest score.

Watson had hit a match winning half century against Deccan Chargers just two days ago. On Saturday, the Aussie was again at his fluent best and was in charge of the Rajasthan innings playing without taking risks in the beginning and then opened out in style. He hit 26 runs off a Praveen Kumar over, cracking five boundaries and a huge six in the 14th over of the innings to take the visitors to the doorstep of a comfortable victory.

Chasing a modest 136 to win, by and large a small total in view of even 200 that is now achievable in this league as shown by Royals themselves against Laxman’s men, Royals made a negative start losing Mahesh Rawat in the first over and then lost big hitter Yusuf Pathan (21) early with Praveen Kumar and Zaheer Kahan striking in tandem.

However, their success ended at that as the Australia-South African pair took the match away from Rahul Dravid’s men, who dished out a disappointing far

Earlier, the Royals bowlers stuck to a good line and made maximum use of the bouncy track to restrict Bangalore to 135 for eight, with Watson and Munaf Patel claiming two wickets apiece.

Royals skipper Shane Warne marshalled his bowlers very well as his batsmen gave him no hiccups what so ever in achieving the winning target.

Chennai Super Kings Vs Kolkata Knight Riders

Pacing their chase to near-perfection, Chennai Super Kings strolled to their third consecutive win, drubbing Kolkata Knight Riders by nine wickets in the Indian Premier League here Saturday.

After Jacob Oram's three-wicket haul that restricted Knight Riders to 147 for nine, the Super Kings, thanks to Matthew Hayden's second successive half-century (70b, 3 x 6, 6 x 4), cruised to victory that put them on top of the IPL leaderboard with six points.

Scorecard

The Super Kings batted sensibly taking no risks whatsoever and romped home with ease.

Hayden, who had made 81 in the previous game against Mumbai Indians, put on 66 for the first wicketwith Parthiv Patel, the highest opening stand in the tournament so far, to provide an ideal platform for skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (43, 27b, 2 x 6, 3 x 4) to finish the game in style.

Given the relatively modest target, the Super Kings focussed on denying the Riders early breakthroughs and then had plenty in reserve to step up the pace when it was required with Hayden clubbing a few sixes.

Hayden and Dhoni added 86 runs for the unfinished second wicket even as the Knight Riders grew in frustration and started to spray the ball around.

Earlier, the Riders, having won both their previous two games, began promisingly with opener Brendon McCullum blazing away, but a twin strike by Oram broke the back of the Kolkata innings that never really recovered from these setbacks.

The Kiwi all-rounder returned with figures of three for 32, a far cry from his 0-37 and 0-53 in the two previous games both of which Super Kings won.

Oram first got rid of McCullum who top-edged a catch and off the very next delivery, out-of-form Ricky Ponting offered a tame catch with Riders on 32 in 2.4 overs.

Thereafter, it was an endless procession as the Riders batsmen in their anxiety to quicken the pace, fell to indiscreet shots.

Super Kings skipper Dhoni kept the pressure on, shuffling his bowlers and not allowing the batsmen to settle down.

Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan applied the brakes on the Riders, conceding just 12 runs in his four overs while Palani Amarnath picked up two crucial wickets, those of David Hussey and Md. Hafeez.

Barring Lakshmi Ratan Shukla (42, 33b, 1 x 6, 1 x 4), none of the other Riders batsmen looked comfortable on a pitch that had a bit of movement and appreciable bounce, but certainly no demons lurking under the surface.

Super Kings also fielded quite well, holding the catches that came their way and giving little away on the ground.

Harbhajan suspended from IPL

Temperamental off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was suspended pending his explanation for slapping his Indian teammate S Sreesanth at the end of an IPL match in Mohali on Friday night and appears headed for a severe punishment which can be a minimum of a ban for five Test matches or 10 one-day internationals.

Harbhajan was earlier given a show-cause notice by the BCCI which gave him time till Monday to explain his conduct but bowing to media and public outrage, he was temporarily suspended till the disciplinary hearing before Farokh Engineer, who was the Match Referee in the tie between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians.

The suspension means Harbhajan Singh, who is the stand-in captain for the Mumbai Indians, will not be able to play for the team against Deccan Chargers on Sunday in Mumbai.

Announcing the suspension, IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi said that based on prima facie video evidence as seen and reviewed by the match adjudicator and referee Farokh Engineer from the tapes provided by Sony & TWI, a decision has been reached to suspend with immediate effect Harbhajan Singh of the Mumbai Indians pending the inquiry into the incident on Monday, April 28, 2008

"The inquiry into the incident at Mohali in the game between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians will now take place at the Maurya Sheraton, New Delhi on April 28th, 2008. A final verdict would be announced by the adjudicator Farokh Engineer post hearing at New Delhi", he said in a statement.

As per the ICC Code of Conduct, slapping a fellow player constitutes a level 4 offence and could lead to a life ban or a minimum ban of five Tests to 10 ODIs.

BCCI President Sharad Pawar said that he had told the IPL Chairman if there was prima facie evidence of wrong-doing on the part of any player, the IPL should take immediate action against the player.

Simaltaneously, he said, the IPL should give opportunity to both the players by hearing them and then take a final view. The IPL Committee will take a separate decision on Monday, he added.

The immediate provocation for Harbhajan's action last night appears to be Sreesanth saying "hard luck" to the off spinner who was in a bad mood following the Mumbai team's third successive loss.

Though Harbhajan, who had only recently escaped unscathed from a searing racial abuse row with Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds, and his victim Sreesanth who cried bitterly on the field last night, tried to downplay the incident, the BCCI sought his explanation by Monday.

The IPL also asked the Match Referee and Adjudicator Engineer to hold an inquiry in Delhi on Monday when Singh would appear before him.

As the cricket world reacted with shock and condemned his behaviour, the Mumbai Indians brazenly announced late evening that Singh would captain tomorrow's match against Deccan Chargers in Mumbai in the absence of an unfit Sachin Tendulkar.

But shortly later, Modi's announcement came as a setback to the team which has already lost all the three matches in the tournament so far.

Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth

Mumbai Indians captain Harbhajan Singh and Kings XI paceman S Sreesanth were on Friday involved in a bitter row, following which the fast bowler was seen crying bitterly on the ground at the end of their IPL match here.

Harbhajan allegedly slapped Sreesanth after the paceman said something offensive to the off-spinner.

The off-spinner however had a long chat with Sreesanth in the dressing room of the Punjab team and even believed to have apologised for his behaviour.

Harbhajan though did not speak on the issue when he came to address the post-match conference.

"Can we have questions on just cricket," Harbhajan said when asked about what happened between him and Sreesanth.

The winning captain Yuvraj Singh was upset by the unsavoury incident and termed it "ugly".

"This is really an ugly incident. You do not want to see such things off the field, especially after such a win. I am pretty upset at what has happened. This is totally unacceptable," he said apparently criticising Harbhajan Singh.

Kings XI Punjab Got Flight - Mumbai Still on Ground

Mohali: Kumar Sangakkara's confident 94-run knock coupled with disciplined bowling fashioned Kings XI Punjab's 66-run victory over Mumbai Indians in their Indian Premier League match.

Sangakkara missed out on a well deserved century but propelled his team to a competitive 182, after being sent to bat by the rival skipper.

The hosts then restricted their opponents to 116 for 9 in their quota of 20 overs with Chawla coming up with a brilliant four-over spell, in which he claimed two wickets and conceded just 16 runs.

Scorecard

Brett Lee also produced exceptional figures of 4-0-9-1 while Irfan chipped in with two wickets in his team's first victory in the tournament.

Mumbai Indians' run chase was far from ideal with both the openers making an early exit courtesy the brilliance of Australian paceman Lee.

The fast bowler removed the dangerous Sanath Jayasuriya (1) with a superb catch off his own bowling and then effected Luke Ronchi's run out with an athletic fielding in the third over.

West Indian Dwayne Bravo (23) and Robin Uthappa (21) then did the spade work, lifting the visitors with a 47-run third-wicket partnership.

But the duo went back to the pavilion in a gap of four runs, dealing severe blows to the hopes of the Mumbai team.

Rookie Piyush Chawla clean bowled Bravo and local boy VRV Singh had Uthappa caught at short mid-wicket to give another blow to visitors hopes.

The visitors paid the price of not building partnerships as batsmen succumbed to the pressure of soaring run-rate and plunged to their third successive defeat.

The Mumbai team, playing without injured captain Sachin Tendulkar, soon found itself in a spot of bother with half of the team back in the pavilion with the scorecard reading just 91.

Shaun Pollock put up a good resistance with his 22-run knock before being undone by a stunning one-handed catch by Yuvraj Singh off S Sreesanth.

Earlier, Sangakkara held one end almost throughout as wickets fell regularly from the other on the batting friendly strip of the PCA stadium.

The Sri Lankan came to the crease after the departure of Irfan Pathan and went back in the penultimate over while attempting a big shot off Harbhajan Singh.

He tried to hoick Singh to get his century with a six but only managed to find Dhawal Kulkarni in the deep, missing out on a well-deserved century.

His innings came off 56 balls and was adorned with 13 boundaries and one shot over the fence.

He also shared a crucial 73-run partnership for the second wicket with opener Karan Goel.

The partnership ended with the run out of Goel as he was too late to respond to the call of his partner.

Goel, just before departing, got his lip cut after being smashed on the helmet grill by a quick bouncer from Dwayne Bravo.

Sangakkara raised 17 runs from Pollock's third over with a flurry of boundaries all over the park and then hit young pacer Dhawal Kulkarni for 16 runs in the next over to up the tempo.

Yuvraj Singh (18) came on the crease after the fall of Goel but could not last long.

Skipper Harbhajan Singh (3/32) was the most successful bowler for the visitors.

Warne ensures Rajasthan a win over Hyderabad

Captain Shane Warne [Images] hit the fourth and fifth ball of the final over for two huge sixes to ensure Rajasthan Royals a three-wicket win over the Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League match at Hyderabad on Thursday.

Needing 17 runs to win off the last over, Warne clobbered a hapless Symonds to snatch the match away.

South African Graeme Smith [Images] (71), playing in his first match, and Yusuf Pathan (61) were the other major contributors for the Rajasthan team while Mohammad Kaif also chipped in with an aggressive 16-ball 34.

Shahid Afridi [Images] was the most successful bowler for the home team for three wickets.

Scores

Earlier, Andrew Symonds [Images] struck form, hitting the fastest hundred of the tournament to steer Deccan Chargers to a challenging 214 for five.

Put in to bat, the hosts overcame early blows to pile up the huge total, thanks to some lusty hitting by Symonds and his 111-run fourth-wicket stand with Rohit Sharma (36).

Symonds hit an unbeaten 117-run knock, studded with seven sixes and 11 boundaries off 53 balls, making full use of a dropped chance at the individual score of 75.

Yusuf Pathan failed to latch on a catch off Siddharth Trivedi at point giving the Australian a chance to notch up his hundred in just 47-balls.

And he did it in style by lofting the rival skipper Shane Warne for a huge long-on six, during his superb innings, which made the rival bowlers look like ordinary.

Paceman Munaf Patel [Images] and spin-great Warne bore the brunt of the Symonds fury as they conceded 55 and 47 runs in their quota of four overs.

Chargers' skipper VVS Laxman came to open the batting with Australian Adam Gilchrist [Images] and the duo put on 22 for the first wicket before Yusuf Pathan's double strike in the third over.

Royals skipper Shane Warne brought in Pathan early in the innings and the bowler responded with two wickets in an eventful over.

Pathan dismissed the dangerous Gilchrist (13) on the second ball of the over as the Australian came forward, got deceived in the air, and was stumped by wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal.

Shahid Afridi then joined his skipper and hit a six and a boundary before handing a catch to Ravinder Jadeja at mid-on while attempting a big shot.

Laxman (16) and Symonds then put on 43 runs for the third-wicket, which not only helped hosts to recover from 32 for two but set the platform for the big score.

Laxman bacame vicitm of Warne as he offered a caught and bowled chance while flicking, which the leggie accepted gleefully.

Super Kings win again, thrash Mumbai Indians

Chennai, April 24 (IANS) Chennai Super Kings defeated Mumbai Indians by six runs for their second consecutive win in the eighth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket tournament here Wednesday night. Asked to bat first, the Super Kings made 208 for five in their allotted 20 overs and then took wickets at regular intervals to leave Mumbai Indians on 202 for seven despite a late blitz by Abhishek Nayar (45 not out).

Mumbai Indians thus had their second consecutive defeat, having lost to Bangalore Royal Challengers in their opening fixture.

Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni yet again showed the Midas touch as he rotated the bowlers well and almost every other change fetched his team a wicket. Joginder Sharma was the pick of the bowlers with two for 29 while young Manpreet Gony bowled a tight spell conceding just 18 runs.

Opener Matthew Hayden (81, 46b, 12 x 4, 2 x 6) and Suresh Raina (56, 3 x 4, 3 x 6) put on a century partnership for the third wicket to help the home team recover after they lost two wickets, including that of Mike Hussey, the centurion in the previous game, for 39.

The Super Kings, who had beaten Kings XI Punjab in their first game, initially struggled to break the shackles as the Mumbai outfit, backed clever field placements, kept a check on the run flow. However, Raina’s arrival saw the Kings step up the pace.

Raina, who had smashed a 13-ball 32 at Mohali last week, again played a brilliant knock that was a mixture of some clever improvisation and authentic cricketing shots even as Hayden maintained a watchful vigil at the other end.

The Super Kings sought to keep their wickets intact for a final assault in the slog overs, and to this end, both Hayden and Raina batted quite sensibly, raising the 100-partnership in 58 balls before Raina left, caught in the deep at the end of the 15th over.

Hayden, in contrast, was content to play the second fiddle, especially after he lost his opening partner Parthiv Patel (14) and then Hussey (5). Eschewing risk, the burly Aussie nudged and pushed with an occasional mighty heave as if just to remind his presence.

After Raina’s departure, Hayden took charge in the company of Dhoni and came up with typical sledgehammer shots as Super Kings total neared the 200 mark for the second consecutive match.

The Mumbai Indians, determined to make ground after losing to Bangalore Royal Challengers at home in their opening game, wilted under Hayden’s onslaughts and with Dhoni joining the party, the runs began to flow more freely.

Hayden and Dhoni added 51 runs in just 24 deliveries before the latter was run out by a direct hit from Harbhajan off the last ball of the penultimate over.

Bowling the last over, medium pacer Musavir Khote went for 14 runs, but picked up Dhoni’s wicket who, attempting a big shot, holed out at mid-on with one more delivery remaining.

Kings, put in to bat, paced their innings well, scoring 126 runs in the last 10 overs while Mumbai Indians, after keeping things tight early on, yielded ground in the final stages.

Mumbai Indians began their reply on a disastrous note, losing Luke Ronchi in the very first over as he was caught short of the crease by a direct hit from Badrinath. In the fourth over, the Mumbai team lost Sanath Jayasuriya just when the Sri Lankan was looking dangerous.

Thereafter, Mumbai Indians hopelessly fell behind the asking rate and despite some big hitting by Robin Uthappa (43, 36b, 1 x 6, 6 x 4) and Dwayne Bravo (24, 16b), they were never really in the hunt.

Just about every Mumbai batsman was off to a good start, but could not convert it into big scores nor forge a partnership.

With the asking rate mounting, Mumbai grew desperate and their batsmen virtually gifted their wickets attempting quick runs.

They targeted Muttiah Muralitharan who on the day was rather off colour. Beginning with three consecutive wides in his first over, the off-spinner did not settle into any kind of rhythm and though he finally took a wicket, he was not anywhere near his best.

However, Mumbai Indians could not exploit the rather thin bowling attack in which Jacob Oram went for 53 runs and Palani Amarnath for 57.

Harbhajan Singh keeps Mumbai in the race

Chennai: Matthew Hayden and Suresh Raina were involved in a 104-run third wicket partnership, which helped Chennai Superkings score 208-5 against Mumbai Indians here.

Hayden scored an attacking 81 while Raina contributed 53 runs. Mahendra Singh Dhoni chipped in with a quickfire 30 as the hapless Mumbai bowlers were taken to task by all the Chennai batsmen.

Earlier, Mumbai Indians went into their second Indian Premier League match, again with their iconic player and captain Sachin Tendulkar, still out of action with a groin injury. Mumbai stand-in skipper Harbhajan Singh won the toss and elected to field on the placid M.A. Chidambaram Stadium pitch here.

There are two changes in the Mumbai team, with West Indian Dwayne Bravo replacing Australian Dominic Thornley, who was injured in the game against Bangalore Royal Challengers, a game that they lost by five wickets. The Chennai team went in with the same XI that had beaten Kings XI Punjab by 33 runs in their first game.

Teams: Chennai Superkings: Matthew Hayden, Parthiv Patel, Michael Hussey, Mahendra Singh Dhoni , Suresh Raina, Jacob Oram, S Badrinath, Joginder Sharma, P Amarnath, Manpreet Gony, Muttiah Muralitharan.

Mumbai Indians: Sanath Jayasuriya, Luke Ronchi, Robin Uthappa, Dwayne Bravo, Abhishek Nayar, Shaun Pollock, Harbhajan Singh , Musavir Khote, Ashish Nehra, Dhaval Kulkarni, Vikrant Yeligati.

Sensational Sehwag carries Delhi to nine-wicket win

Hyderabad: Virender Sehwag seemed to have a train to catch, as he rocketed Delhi Daredevils to a sensational nine-wicket win over Hyderabad Deccan Chargers.

Sehwag scored 94 not out off just 41 deliveries as his partnership with Shikhar Dhawan (25 not out) took his side to a facile win. Delhi now have two wins from two matches while Hyderabad have yet to score a win in the IPL.

Chasing Hyderabad's modest 142, Delhi never gave the hosts any chance to fight back as first Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, then the captain and Dhawan, decimated the attack.

The 13th over of the match, bowled by Andrew Symonds, went for 30 runs as Sehwag hit three sixes and three boundaries. In total, Sehwag hit ten boundaries and six sixes.

Young Rohit Sharma carried the Hyderabad Deccan Chargers on his shoulders as bigger names like Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Shahid Afridi failed, to take his side to a fighting 142-8 against Delhi Daredevils.

Sharma scored a sensational 66 runs off just 36 deliveries, hitting six fours and four sixes.

Sharma scored 26 runs off one over by Faraveez Maharoof. He carried Hyderabad from a precarious 70-5 after 15 overs to a total that can at least be called challenging for the Delhi batsmen.

For the Delhi team, Pakistani fast bowler Mohd. Asif was the best bowler, claiming two wickets for 19 runs in four overs.

Earlier, Deccan Chargers captain VVS Laxman thought it apt to make use of the pitch first, especially with perhaps the best batting line-up, which doesn't seem even remotely similar to the one they played earlier on in Kolkata.

The Chargers play their first game at home, and are up against an upbeat Delhi Daredevils side, who have been bolstered by the arrival of the Pakistan duo of Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Asif, as well as another change in Yo Mahesh. Daniel Vettori, Mithun Manhas and Brett Geeves sat out the fixture.

Hyderabad, on the other hand, included the explosive Shahid Afridi to go with the existing firepower of Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds, while Scott Styris was benched.

Teams:

Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, Shoaib Malik, Manoj Tiwary, Dinesh Karthik, Rajat Bhatia, Mohammad Asif, Yo Mahesh, Farveez Maharoof, Glenn McGrath.

Hyderabad Deccan Chargers: VVS Laxman (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Venugopal Rao, Andrew Symonds, Rohit Sharma, Shahid Afridi, Arjun Yadav, Sanjay Bangar, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Chaminda Vaas.

The big branding game plays out on IPL pitches

New Delhi: With the promise of keeping viewers glued to their TV sets, cricket's biggest fiesta Indian Premier League (IPL) has unfolded with mega stars on the field - and off it too - and marketing teams pitching in with multimillion-rupee budgets to cash in on the action.

From getting viewers to blog with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who owns the Kolkata Knight Riders team, hiring international cheerleaders to organising talent shows and pushing as many ads as possible during the matches shown on prime time in the evenings, companies have left no stone unturned to market the IPL brand.

The multimillion-dollar tournament with 20 overs a side for a snappier, peppier version of the game is approved by the International Cricket Council (ICC). IPL features about 100 international cricket icons in eight teams - Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Jaipur, Chennai, Chandigarh and Hyderabad - which endorse both international and national brands, all with a scorching price tag.

IPL's debut season, which kicked off Friday, may last just 45 days but advertisers have planned for the entire year as cricket and cinema combine to present an enviable business opportunity.

Indian Premier League: Full coverage

United Spirits Ltd., which owns Bangalore's Royal Challengers, has earmarked $106 million to build the team. The company, which has also hired the international cheerleading team Washington Redskins, for added allure has committed investment for up to 10 years.

"It's a strategic investment to build the brand and our association with the game will give a lot of boost," said Amrit Thomas, executive vice-president, United Spirits Ltd.

"The potential is immense and it all depends on how stakeholders combine effectively to make it a winning proposition," Thomas added.

United Spirits is not the only one. Religare, the company sponsoring the Delhi Daredevils Team, has adopted a similar strategy.

"Like all other sponsors, we have poured in investments of about Rs.20-40 million (approx $5-10 million) yearly in branding and marketing," Subhrangshu Neogi, vice president of branding at Religare, told IANS.

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Religare has lined up several campaigns, selling various merchandise such as the players' jerseys.

"This would expose us to a huge and wide constituency. It would give complete meaning to the rationale behind sponsoring a team, which is to market the company beyond being just a financial services company," Neogi added.

The world's richest cricket league, in line with the football leagues in Europe, has seen unprecedented money pouring in.

Ogilvy and Mather Advertising took on the task of building up momentum for the tournament with a series of ads, like the "Cricket ka Karmayudh", or cricket's ultimate battle zone, commercial that had animated figures flashing in and out of a stadium.

"This is a completely new category and territory in India; the agency took inspiration from the way international sports clubs such as Manchester United are positioned," said Anup Chitnis, executive creative director (South Asia), Ogilvy and Mather Advertising.

"We then deduced that a loyal fan base is the most important factor for IPL, and therefore created the 'Cricket ka Karmayudh' platform, to foster a competitive spirit by heating up the fight," Chitnis told IANS.

Nokia that is sponsoring the Kolkata Knight Riders along with Reebok, Tag Heuer, HDIL, Belmonte and The Telegraph has also launched an advertising blitzkrieg.

"To create a compelling engagement for the contest, we have undertaken a 360 degree approach to communication with a judicious mix of electronic, print and digital media," said Devinder Kishore, director (marketing), Nokia India.

"This includes a 15 second TVC (TV commercial), an eight-city print campaign, road shows in Kolkata over weekends during the IPL series. We will also be present online prominently through internet advertising as well as a viral campaign," he added.

The Finnish telecom giant is also organising several promotional events such as 'Blog with Shah Rukh!' to catch the audience, young and old.

As the hoopla grows, some sceptics are making themselves heard.

"They have created a lot of hype around it but it remains to be seen how IPL lives up to it. The slots that they have taken are tough as far as grabbing the attention of the prime-time audience is concerned," said JWT India CEO Colvyn Harris.

Agreed Swapan Seth, CEO of Equus Red Cell: "They have not really been able to whip up the euphoria. The team branding has also not been done properly."

Watson guides Royals to win

Riding on a swashbuckling 49-ball 76 from Shane Watson, hosts Rajasthan Royals defeated Kings XI Punjab by six wickets in the IPL Twenty20 tournament played at Sawai Mansingh stadium.

The Australian all-rounder looked in terrific form as he blasted almost all Punjab bowlers at will clouting five sixes and as many fours. Watson was involved in two invaluable partnerships as he first put on 51 for the fourth wicket with Darren Lehman (17) and followed that with a 69-run stand for the unbroken fifth wicket stand with Ravinder Jadeja (36 not out).

Scorecard | Images

Earlier, Royals captain Shane Warne produced a superb spell of 3 for 19 to restrict the Punjab side to 166 for eight.

The Australian spin legend's act of leading from the front overshadowed a chancy but strokeful half century by his opposite number Yuvraj Singh (57) who won the toss and decided to bat first.

The visitors would have been in a worse position had Yuvraj not been dropped twice when he was on 15 and 27, the first time off Warne and the second off Siddarth Trivedi.

Warne, however, removed Yuvraj, who was caught and bowled while trying to sweep the retired spin legend. Yuvraj struck six fours and three huge sixes in his 34-ball innings.

Warne also cut short Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara's explosive but short innings of 20 made from eight balls and studded with three fours and one six, besides removing opener James Hopes (16).

The other opener had promised a lot at the top of order with two huge sixes off Munaf Patel who, however, had the last laugh clean bowling the young Punjab batsman for 26 (3x4, 2x6).

IPL 2008

India leg-spinner Piyush Chawla made a late flourish with an unbeaten 11-ball 24 to take to a competitive score.

For the Royals, Trivedi returned figures of 2-25 while Munaf took one wicket for 36 runs.

IPL Schedule - Fixtures and Matches

April 18: Bangalore v Kolkata at Bangalore

April 19: Mohali v Chennai at Mohali and 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

April 28: 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

May 13: 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

Tendulkar excited about leading IPL team

Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday said he was looking forward to the challenge of leading Mumbai Indians in the high-profile Indian Premier League starting on April 18.

"It is going to be a challenge. I was not expecting it (to captain the Mumbai side). Mukesh Ambani spoke to me and he wanted me to lead the side. I have accepted it and I am looking forward to it," he said.

Tendulkar did not believe his side is one of the weakest in the eight-team league and said he was happy with the composition of the team.

"I am happy with the team. It has nice blend of seniors and juniors, it is a terrific team. Who says we have a weak side, let the tournament start and everybody will know," he told NDTV.

The master batsman was also happy that he got feisty tweaker Harbhajan Singh in his side and said the 'turbanator' would be an asset to the team.

"He is a world class player, I am happy that I have got him. Anybody who has played for more than 10 years for his country should be a terrific player."

When asked about the prospect of facing India team-mates like Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and M S Dhoni in the IPL, Tendulkar said it would be a new but exciting experience.

"It will be a strange experience, playing against somebody who are next to me in the dressing room. It is a club system, it will be a new experience. It will be exciting for players as well as spectators."

Tendulkar was also excited about opening the innings with explosive Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya besides once again facing retired champion spinner Shane Warne.

"Sanath is a terrific batsman. I have enjoyed his batting and not only that, he is also a handy slow bowler. I am excited to go out and bat with him.

"It will be a good challenge with (Shane) Warne. He is going to come back hard and we will be prepared," Tendulkar said when reminded of his past on-field duels with the Australian.

Tendulkar felt the IPL would most benefit the youngsters who will rub shoulders with the biggest names in the game.
"My team has promising youngsters like Abhishek Nayar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ajinkya Rahane and Ankeet Chavan. Think of them playing against Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting, Shaun Pollock, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. It is a great opportunity for them to show the world their potential."

Tendulkar said the IPL would be a successful venture and spectators would flock to the stadiums to watch the Twenty20 matches. "It has all the big names in the world of cricket, so it has to succeed. People will come, they want to watch exciting cricket."

The master batsman, who is turning 35 on April 24, is, however, racing against time to be fit before the start of the tournament.

"I am not fully recovered and have not started practice. I have just started doing a few throw-downs and some basic things. A final assessment on my fitness level will be done soon," he added.

Let the IPL show begin!

The start of the Indian Premier League is the second major event to hit cricket over the past few decades.

The first was when Kerry Packer broke ranks with those running the game, set-up his own "Super Tests" and eventually the "pyjama" game, which has become so popular around the world.

Players were being paid a pittance then before Packer arrived on the scene and before long the top players were earning their just rewards.

Now the Board of Control for Cricket in India start their own revolution today with their much-publicised Indian Premier League which has, unlike Packer, the backing of every cricket nation in the world, has new money, which could eventually see players earning more for their appearances in the Test and One-day International arena

There's worldwide television coverage, there's glitz and glamour by the way of show biz entertainment, and the most important commodity is that there are players here, who are at present the top stars around the world.

Rickey Ponting, Andrew Symonds, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Mark Boucher, Jacques Kallis, Shivnaraine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle, Daniel Vettori, Adam Gilchrist, Graeme Smith, Makhaya Ntini, Shoaib Malik to name but a few who will grace the cricket field of India in different outfits from their very own national colours.

They will play alongside stars from different countries and that will be a challenge for many in the six-week event.

It's all happening in India. Everyone is excited.

The expectations - not unusual - are very high and the Lalit Modi-run India Premier will be the talking point of the millions in the cricket-mad sub-continent.

Eight teams - Mumbai Indian, Kings XI Punjab, Royal Challengers, Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Dare Devils, Deccan Chargers and Rajasthan Royals - will participate in this mega event which has attracted all the top officials including the International Cricket Council's top brass, the chief executives and the presidents plus the marketing arms of the various cricketing bodies around the world.

There will be a 45-minute opening ceremony today which will see all eight captains of the franchises jointly read out a pledge re-affirming the IPL's faith in the spirit of cricket in front of an expected capacity crowd.

All or nothing: IPL opens amid soaring expectations

Having weathered a boycott threat from the media and numerous other controversies, the Indian Premier League is all set to roll with a heady mix of cricket and glamour on show in the opening match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Bangalore Royal Challengers here on Friday.

The Shah Rukh Khan-owned Knight Riders and Vijay Mallya's Royal Challengers will kick off the 44-day Twenty20 tournament that has several international stars playing alongside the best of Indian domestic cricket and under-19 rookies.

Led by two former Indian captains — Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid — who currently don't have a fixed place in the ODI squad, it will be intriguing to see how the Knight Riders and Royal Challengers match up to each other in the floodlit Twenty20 contest.

Knight Riders also features the flamboyance of Australian skipper Ricky Ponting besides Indian teen pace sensation Ishant Sharma, who has just recovered from a finger injury.

The Bangalore team may not have as a big a star as Ponting in its fold but the presence of players like South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis and Indian Test skipper Anil Kumble makes it a formidable unit.

Kumble, though, is likely to miss the lung-opener, as he recuperates from a groin injury picked up during the recent series against South Africa.

But more than the cricket, it is the whopping money at stake that has been making headlines. The winner of the tournament is all set to take home Rs 4 crore, while even the last-placed team would end up with Rs 40 lakh in its kitty.

Millions were spent during the players' auction, which made some cricketers feel like livestock.

The money on offer also ignited a debate on whether the players will be able to keep their country above IPL as a few weeks of cricket was offering them several folds more than what they are earning through their central contracts right now.

Players, as expected, denied that any such thought ever crossed their mind but the English cricketers' clamour to be in the IPL, even at the cost of their central contracts, suggested otherwise.

The issue of player-burnout was all but lost in the maddening millions and not one cricketer complained of how the 59-match tourney was going to rob them of a break in a choc-a-bloc international calendar.

Instead, there is already talk of creating a window for IPL in the Future Tours Program (FTP), a suggestion likely to get the ICC nod, given the BCCI's influence in the governing body.

The money-talk has taken over the tournament to such an extent that ever since its launch, IPL has always been described in the millions that it has generated.

The film stars and business barons who lined up to buy the teams have left no stone unturned in their efforts to build loyal fan clubs on the line of football leagues.

But despite the media blitz and aggressive promotion, the response at best has been lukewarm and there are already concerns about the still-to-pick-up ticket sales.

However, the stakeholders are keeping their fingers crossed for the tempo to build after the tournament gets underway. And it remains to be seen whether the fans will be interested in seeing Bangalore's Dravid facing off against Kolkata's Ganguly.

IPL giving Shah Rukh 'sleepless nights'

Four days before the start of the Indian Premier League -- the latest initiative of the Board of Control for Cricket in India -- and the negatives are piling up.

In an extensive interview to the Kolkata-based Anand Bazaar Patrika, Shah Rukh Khan [Images], who owns the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise, said he is "quite disappointed" at the poor audience response.

• Websites banned from covering IPL | Debate

"The first day, when I heard this, I was really surprised that only 237 tickets had been sold at the counter," Khan told the Kolkata paper. "I am truly finding it difficult to accept this. I have never, till date, requested my fans to go and see my films. Never ever done it. I am a bit surprised as to why, despite keeping the ticket prices low, people are not showing any interest."

Khan said he is "very tired" by the IPL experience. "I never thought so many problems would crop up when I bought the Knight Riders. I was not prepared for these circumstances. A rosy picture, removed from reality, was painted to me," he said.

One element in that rosy picture was that the franchise owners would be allowed to stage various forms of entertainment at the venues, in order to woo the fans. Apparently even that has run into trouble -- apparently the Kolkata government, unlike governments of states hosting other franchises -- has refused to provide tax exemption.

• Images: Redskins Cheerleaders for Royal Challengers

"How can I do it [hold an entertainment package] unless the entertainment tax is waived?" Khan told the ABP. "The tax has been exempted at all the other centres in India except in Kolkata."

He said officials of the franchise have met government officials and appealed, but thus far, he has no word on whether exemption will be granted. "Involvement with the Knight Riders is giving me sleepless nights," a clearly disgruntled Khan told the ABP.

The interview comes as the final straw on what has been a bad week for the IPL. The Press Trust of India late last week announced that it will boycott the event in protest against the draconian conditions laid down by IPL for the media.

• Shah Rukh Khan launches Knight Riders

The PTI boycott is a potentially devastating blow. In its inaugural year, the IPL needs as much publicity as it can get; PTI is the agency smaller, out of town newspapers and the vernacular media that cannot afford to send correspondents to cover the event live -- or may not get accreditation, given the pressure on space -- will rely on for news, information and features. The boycott by PTI virtually ensures a near total blackout, therefore, of the IPL in the medium and small scale segments of the media -- thus preventing the league from drumming up interest and support in the grassroots communities.

The same is true for international coverage. The News Media Coalition, an umbrella body that incorporates global news and photography services such as Reuters, Associated Press (AP), Agence France [Images] Presse (AFP) and Getty Images, have also said that in view of the IPL's restrictive clauses -- most notably, the proscription on news agencies selling content and photographs to websites -- the Coalition will boycott the event; thus reducing or in some cases eliminating international coverage of the much-touted league.

Shah Rukh Khan, and other franchise owners, are reportedly concerned over the threat of a blackout by some sections of the media. Cricinfo reported late last week that franchise owners plan to voice these concerns to IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, and ask that he resolve the issues.

'If the issue escalates to a point where media or sections of the media will choose to ignore the IPL, we will have to step in, meet with IPL and seek clarifications. We need to find an amicable solution,' Cricinfo quoted Charu Sharma, chief executive of the Vijay Mallya-owned Bangalore Royal Challengers, as saying.

The website also quotes Fraser Castellino, CEO of Jaipur's Rajasthan Royals, as saying they had invested heavily in the venture and would like the entire media on board, to ensure that the event "reaches every heart".

"For that, we need the entire media on our side," Castellino said. "We hope the two parties, like two sensible people, will sit across the table and resolve the issue. We really have no time but we, as a franchise, are willing to step in and help resolve this situation."

Castellino's wish is unlikely to come true. Getty Images, a global photography service, has taken the IPL off its list of assignments for the month; equally significantly, PTI did not apply within deadline for accreditation, which effectively means it will not be present ringside to send in reports and features.