IPL 4 begins

On 8th of April, IPL season 4 began. The first match was played between Chenni Super Kings and Kolkota Knight Riders at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. The toss went into the favor of the hosts and they elected to bat first.

Aniruda Srikkanth and Murali Vijay opened the batting innings for the Chennai Super Kings. Murali Vijay did not perform as he departed after scoring only 4 runs. Suresh Raina came in to bat and put up a partnership of 75 runs which helped CSK to add up some good runs on board. After the departure of Raina, things slowed down and the run rate fell. Finally Chennai Super Kings managed to put up a total score of 153 runs on board for the loss of 4 wickets (CSK - 153/4, 20 over). Aniruda Srikkanth was the top scorer of the team who scored a magnificent 64 runs in 55 deliveries which included 6 fours and 2 sixes. Jacques Kallis managed to pick up 2 wickets for KKR.

Kolkota Knight Riders after restricting CSK to 153, opened its batting innings with the openers Manvinder Bisla and Jacques Kallis. The start was just rocking and they were just cruising in with runs. In the 9th over, CSK were back with the removal of Manvinder Bisla's wicket. This was the first blow for KKR. After the fall of the dangerous Yusuf Pathan and Jacques Kallis, KKR were in real trouble as the required kept on increasing rapidly. Even the skipper Gautam Gambhir could not break the jinx set by CSK. Manoj Tiwary in the 19th over hit 2 sixes which drastically reduced the asking rate. At one point of time, KKR required 9 runs from just 8 balls. But Manoj Tiwary did not maintain his calm and he got out by getting stumped by MS Dhoni. Soon Laxmi Shukla followed him. Finally KKR needed 4 runs in just 1 ball, Tim Southee bowled an magnificent yorker which restricted the batsman to settle with only 1 run. KKR ended up its batting innings scoring 151 runs for the loss of 7 wickets (KKR - 151/7, 20over). Skipper MS Dhoni made 3 stump outs and one run-out.

Ahhhh!!!!!! now Gambhir will face MS Dhoni.....

In the finals of the ICC World Cup 2011, India became the new champions by defeating their sub-continent team Srilanka on Saturday, thereby breaking the winning jinx of the Aussies. Australia won 3 titles continuously 1999, 2003 and 2007. In the quarter finals Aussies played against India and finally got defeated by the Indians. The defending champions had to quit the tournament and return to home empty.

In the finals, Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni played magnificently and  helped the team to chase the total successfully. Gautam Gambhir could not get his century as he got out after scoring 97 runs. Similarly, Indian skipper MS Dhoni scored a unbeaten 91 runs but could not get a century. Both Gauti and Dhoni were awesome with bat in finals which helped team India to lift the trophy after 28 years. Finally Sachin Tendulkar's 20 year dream came true.

Now the IPL season has began, The matches will be starting from Tomorrow i.e, 8th April. The match will be played between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkota Knight Riders. The best part in this is, Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni will be competing against each other. The team mates who put up a great partnership will be now pulling each others leg in this IPL 2011. 

What ever it is, the IPL fever is started now. My support will always be to Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Chennai Super Kings & Kolkata Knight Riders fight for their survival to get into Semi-finals

Kolkata Knight Riders & Chennai Super Kings have won 5 matches each & lost 6 matches playing 11 IPL - 3 matches in total. Both the teams are at the bottom of the table. This match is supposed to be the turning point for both the teams, whoever wins gets chances to make it to semi-finals.
Today, Kolkata Knight Riders played against Chennai Super Kings at MA Chidambaram Stadium (Chepauk), Chennai. Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss & elected to bat first.
Skiper Sourav Ganguly & Chris Gayle opened the innings for Kolkata Knight Riders in a grand style. But, Kolkata Knight Riders went into a bad situation after scoring 17 runs in 2.1 overs, they lost 4 quick wickets in just 10 deliveries. After this big blow, they came back little well, but could not score huge. By the end of 20 overs, they scored 139 runs loosing 8 wickets. Angelo Mathews was the top scorer for Kolkata Knight Riders who scored 48 runs from 48 balls. Doug Bollinger was the economical bowler for Chennai Super Kings whose economy rate was 3.75 runs per over taking 2 wickets.
Chasing the target of just 140 runs, Chennai Super Kings opened their innings with Murali Vijay & Mathew Hayden as openers. Mathew Hayden was out in the 3rd ball of the 1st over, where he was bowled out by Chris Gayle. Suresh Raina & Murali Vijay started to build the partnership & also played aggressively. They both contributed a unbeaten 137 runs partnership. By 13.3 overs, Chennai Super Kings successfully chased their target by scoring 143 runs. Suresh Raina scored a unbeaten 78 runs from just 39 deliveries which included 11 fours & 3 sixes. Meanwhile, Murali Vijay scored his unbeaten half century in 40 balls. Chennai Super Kings won the match by 9 wickets. By this win, Chennai Super Kings have got a good opportunity  to get into semi-finals & Kolkata Knight Riders are almost out of this IPL season. Man of the match is Suresh Raina for unbeaten 78 runs & picking up a wicket.