Pune Warriors win clash of new teams

Pune Warriors 151 for 6 (Mishra 37*) beat Kochi Tuskers Kerala 148 for 8 (Jadeja 47, Hodge 39, Parnell 3-35) by four wickets. A fluctuating game between the two new teams in the tournament ended with Pune Warriors at the top of the table and Kochi Tuskers Kerala near the other end. The unheralded Paul Valthaty had played a blinder to win the first game of the day for Kings XI Punjab, and it was another low-profile player, Mohnish Mishra, who sealed the game for Pune with an unruffled 37 in a close finish at the DY Patil Stadium. For the second game in a row, Mahela Jayawardene was let down by the bowling in the death. Raiphi Gomez had been taken for three sixes by AB de Villiers in the 18th over of Kochi's opening match to win it...

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Valthaty ton pulls off superb chase

Kings XI Punjab 193 for 4 (Valthaty 120*) beat Chennai Super Kings 188 for 4 (Vijay 74, Badrinath 66*) by six wickets. The IPL's northernmost franchise found a hero with roots in the south, as Paul Valthaty stunned Chennai Super Kings to clinch a maiden win for Kings XI Punjab this season after a disappointing performance in their opening game. Valthaty was a surprise promotion to the opening slot, instead of the regular Shaun Marsh, and he answered the call with a blistering start, keeping his team on par with the required-rate in the middle overs and surging again at the death to complete victory after achieving a spectacular century. At 27, with just one List A game and 13 Twenty20 matches, Valthaty had been on the sidelines of...

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Mumbai coast past Bangalore

Mumbai Indians 143 for 1 (Tendulkar 51*, Rayudu 62*) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 140 for 4 (Dilshan 59*, Pollard 2-25, Malinga 2-32) by five wickets. Sachin Tendulkar, the controller, and Ambati Rayudu, the enforcer, made short work of the below-par target set by Bangalore to give Mumbai their second successive win of the tournament. However, it was with the bat that Bangalore lost the game tonight. It was a strange innings as Bangalore were in consolidation mode for most of the time after they slipped to 19 for 2 and then meandered away to 140. There was no such hesitation shown by Mumbai in the chase. Every time Bangalore tried a new bowler, Tendulkar and Rayudu lashed out. When Abhimanyu Mithun was introduced in the sixth...

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Rajasthan Royals surge to second win

Rajasthan Royals 152 for 4 (Botha 39*, Dravid 38) beat Delhi Daredevils 151 for 6 (Rao 60, Warner 54, Warne 2-17) by six wickets. Rajasthan Royals executed a well-calibrated chase against an off-colour Delhi Daredevils attack to register their second win in two games and move atop the IPL leaderboard. The senior players soaked up the pressure - Rahul Dravid set up the chase and Johan Botha anchored it - while the youngsters, Ashok Menaria and Ajinkya Rahane, batted with freedom to keep the required-rate under control. Ross Taylor added the finishing touches with his trademark leg-side lashes. While Rajasthan's batting flowed seamlessly, their bowling was a tale of two halves. Their fortunes were typified by Shaun Tait's four one-over...

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Kallis shines in Kolkata's home victory

Kolkata Knight Riders 163 for 4 (Kallis 53) beat Deccan Chargers 154 for 8 (Chipli 48, Abdulla 3-24) by nine runs It could be the overdose of cricket, or the absence of their adored hometown hero Sourav Ganguly, or just that it was a Monday night; whatever the reason, it was only a sparse crowd at Eden Gardens as Kolkata Knight Riders eased to victory in their first home game of the season. On a turning track where the ball kept low, Kolkata's batsmen all chipped in to put up the highest total of the tournament so far, which proved sufficient against Deccan Chargers. Jacques Kallis provided another launchpad for the innings, with a controlled half-century filled with off-driven boundaries. He wasn't overly troubled by the new-ball...

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Pune Warriors flatten listless Punjab

Pune Warriors 113 for 3 (Manhas 35) beat Kings XI Punjab 112 for 8 (McLaren 51*, Wagh 3-16) by seven wickets Subroto Roy, owner of the tournament's most expensive franchise Pune Warriors, watched his team's debut seated amid a group of models, who had plenty to cheer as Pune outclassed Kings XI Punjab at the DY Patil Stadium. Punjab were the cellar-dwellers of the previous season, and despite completely overhauling the squad, they turned in a performance that would have been expected from the deadbeats of 2010. Even triple digits looked a long way away from Punjab, after the top six had failed on a track with plenty of bounce, before South African allrounder Ryan McLaren pulled off some big hits towards the end of the innings to...

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Malinga's five sets up comfortable Mumbai win

Mumbai Indians 99 for 2 (Tendulkar 46*) beat Delhi Daredevils 95 (Malinga 5-13) by eight wickets.  When batsmen face Lasith Malinga, they know what's coming at them: several yorkers, some low full tosses, the odd slower ball. Some might not swing but everything will be aimed at the stumps. Knowledge wasn't power for Delhi Daredevils' batsmen, though, as Malinga ripped through them in two spells, claiming the third-best figures in the IPL. His five-wicket haul helped shoot out Delhi for 95, their second-lowest total, and ruin the contest before the sun had set at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Malinga's performance allowed the Mumbai batsmen to chase in comfortable gear. Davy Jacobs' first stint as Sachin Tendulkar's opening partner ...

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Cool de Villiers crashes Kochi party

Royal Challengers Bangalore 162 for 4 (de Villiers 54, Tiwary 26) beat Kochi Tuskers Kerala 161 for 5 (McCullum 45, Laxman 36) by five wickets. Five blistering sixes from AB de Villiers, and his 52-run partnership with Saurabh Tiwary, won the night for Bangalore Royal Challengers. The first came in the ninth over in which Sreesanth leaked 15 runs as Bangalore moved to 80 for 2. It was a full delivery, off a free hit, and de Villiers went down on a bent knee to paddle-scoop it for a stunning six over fine-leg. The next blitz from him came after spinners Muttiah Muralitharan and Ravindra Jadeja choked up the run flow in the next few overs. With 33 runs required from the last three overs, de Villiers imposed himself against Raiphi...

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Chennai sneak last-ball victory

Chennai Super Kings 153 for 4 (Anirudha 64) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 151 for 7 (Kallis 54) by two run. With the country still basking in the afterglow of a World Cup win, the IPL needed a nailbiter to grab the already sated fans' attention and there was one at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Three-quarters through the game, Kolkata Knight Riders were walking to victory before a brilliant run-out from MS Dhoni helped Chennai Super Kings stay in it. Then, Jacques Kallis holed out attempting a cute paddle-sweep, Eoin Morgan was undone by the part-time spin of Suresh Raina, and Gautam Gambhir added another chapter to his book of crazy running to leave the capacity Chennai crowd sensing victory. Even after the big guns of the Kolkata batting were...

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