Indian Cricket Team Updates |
- CSK will win the IPL: Kevin Pietersen
- Uthappa was brilliant: Mathews #PWI vs RCB
- Pepsi Atom Most Valuable Players list: IPL 2013
- Straight hitting, the hallmark of Raina’s ton: Albie Morkel
- PWI vs RCB - M46 Report & Stats: IPL 2013
- CSK vs KXIP - M45 Report & Stats: IPL 2013
| CSK will win the IPL: Kevin Pietersen Posted: 03 May 2013 04:22 AM PDT  In a blink-and-miss appearance at a press meet in New Delhi on Friday, England and Delhi Daredevils batsman Kevin Pietersen has wagered on the Chennai Super Kings to lift the 2013 Indian Premier League title. "CSK are a great team and in MS Dhoni they have the best skipper for these conditions," said Pietersen after being launched as a brand ambassador of a leading watch manufacturer. "In (Ravichandran) Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, Chennai have some very good spinners who can take advantage of the turning track at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk," he said. It may have been a fleeting appearance but Pietersen held the audience in rapt attention. "They (Chennai) have the perfect squad in the IPL. Mike Hussey is a superstar and I would bet on the Chennai Super Kings to win this years' title," he added. Pietersen backed his prediction by slamming the performance of defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders, whom he "expected to challenge Chennai for the title". "I have been very disappointed with KKR this year. The pitches in Chennai and the Eden Gardens in Kolkata are very similar, but the Knight Riders have not lived up to their billing, despite an abundance of talent," added the 32-year-old. Moving on to his franchise, the Delhi Daredevils, Pietersen was adamant that the squad was heading in the right direction. "Look, our bad start to the season was more to do with injuries and absentees as opposed to poor performances." "With Jesse Ryder and myself being ruled out of the tournament, and Virender Sehwag recovering from injury, our bad start was due to external factors. We have put a few wins together and the squad is regaining confidence at the right time," said Pietersen. Pietersen also had some reassuring words for his Delhi teammates Irfan Pathan and Umesh Yadav, both of whom have suffered from injuries and a loss of form in recent years. "Irfan and Umesh are great lads who have done well but have been a tad unlucky. Umesh, in particular is an exceptional talent and has added the slower ball to his repertoire. I would like both of them to be selected in to the Indian squad for the Champions Trophy," said Pietersen of the two India team hopefuls. Never one to shy away from an opinion KP also had his say on the poor form showcased by legends Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting in IPL 6. "Look it's difficult for seniors to play Twenty20 tournaments. Especially for someone like Ricky who has been away from international cricket for a few months. But despite their performances you have to say the IPL wouldn't be the same without them," concluded the England maverick. source: ndtv.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Uthappa was brilliant: Mathews #PWI vs RCB Posted: 02 May 2013 11:30 PM PDT It was a case of being 'so close yet so far' for the Pune Warriors India as they lost to the Royal Challengers Bangalore by 17 runs while chasing 188 at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium.  Led by a determined Robin Uthappa, who bludgeoned the opposition attack, the Warriors put up a tough fight against Virat Kohli's team after AB de Villiers had smashed the bowlers all over the park. The PWI opener held up one end even as he ran out of partners early on and found and able ally in Angelo Mathews. The Sri Lankan, back in the side after missing four games and having stepped down from captaincy played a vital role in helping Uthappa take the attack to the opposition. During their 63-run partnership they threatened to take the game away from the visitors. On the way to his 19-ball 32, Mathews smashed three sixes to help keep his side in the game after Vinay Kumar had dealt a double blow to knock the hosts back. Speaking to iplt20.com after the clash, Mathews said that Uthappa's 45-ball 75 was one of the best innings he had seen from his team-mate. The former skipper also mentioned that the fight that the batters put up was a positive that they will take with them as they look to win some games before the end of the Pepsi Indian Premier League 2013. Excerpts from the interview: Whether they fancied their chances after the 63-run partnership between him and Uthappa? Definitely! If I and Robin were to have been there (till the end), I thought we would have finished off the game but unfortunately we just came so close and once again we ended up losing. On Uthappa's knock It is one of the best knocks that I have ever seen from Robin. He was absolutely brilliant. He paced his innings really well and he took them to the cleaners in the middle overs. I thought he batted extremely well. On where the match went away from them since they had things under control in the initial part of the RCB innings AB de Villiers is one of the most dangerous batsmen to bowl at. When he gets going you really cannot think of a field and a ball to bowl. He is that kind of a character and it is always difficult when you are bowling at the death. And Dinda has been really doing the job for us in the past games. Unfortunately he couldn't do that job. But no blame on him, he tried his extreme best and the batters also fought till the end. It was a pretty uplifting performance by the whole team. On regrouping and going ahead We have nothing to lose now and we just have to go there and play positive cricket as we did on Thursday and turn our trump cards and give it our best shot to try and win games. On the tougher challenge of playing an away game next It is always tough going away and playing in an opposition's home. It is going to be tough and I think we have got nothing to lose and if we play cricket like the way we played we can win a few games. On the positives from the match for PWI Definitely the chase! It was absolutely brilliant and I thought through most of the overs we were in control but unfortunately in the latter part we could not hold on to the nerves. But while batting I feel the batsmen did a really good job by getting closer to that target because it looked a massive target to chase specially on this wicket. On whether the wicket had changed as the game progressed Yes. It is a slow and low wicket and it got slower and lower as the game went on and it wasn't easy. I thought the batters stood up to the challenge and they were brilliant. source: iplt20.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pepsi Atom Most Valuable Players list: IPL 2013 Posted: 02 May 2013 11:26 PM PDT  Royal Challengers Bangalore's Chris Gayle is leading the Pepsi Atom MVP chart. Here is the list of the Most Valuable Players at the end of Match 45 of Pepsi IPL 2013-
source: iplt20.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Straight hitting, the hallmark of Raina’s ton: Albie Morkel Posted: 02 May 2013 11:30 PM PDT Albie Morkel has been a pillar of Chennai Super Kings' overseas contingent right since the inaugural IPL season. He has won them many a matches with ball and bat alike. And he has seen some of the Indian players in CSK blossom into the cricketers they are today.  One of them is Suresh Raina, the highest run-scorer in IPL and someone who is yet to miss a game in the league since its inception. Morkel watched the better half of Suresh Raina's first IPL century from the other end of the wicket during his 74-run stand with him. After CSK's 15-run win over Kings XI Punjab at home, Morkel chatted with iplt20.com. He spoke about Raina's knock and how the left-hander has evolved as a batsman since the first time he saw him. Morkel also clarified that he still harbours the desire to play for South Africa but will hold no bitterness if his international career is over. Do you think the Chennai Super Kings are progressing towards invincibility? I wouldn't say that. We're actually having our first decent IPL if you think about it. We've always played well overall but at this stage of the tournament we've never been on the top. We've always come from behind, snuck into the semis and then win. We're having a good year, playing some good cricket and doing our basics right. The best part is that we're not relying on one guy. Everybody is making contributions. There was a bit of a stutter in the beginning of the season with two home losses. But did you smile with a quiet confidence knowing the team always peaks at the right time? IPL is such a tournament that if you have a bad start you can always catch up later on. If you look at the make-up of our side, we've got lot of dynamic and explosive players, and sooner or later you expect them to come good. Luckily this year it has happened from the second game. We have qualified in the top-four but now that challenge for us is to keep improving as a team and keep setting that bar higher. The last season CSK struggled to come to terms with the re-laid track at the Chepauk. Has the familiarity factor come back this year? I think the track has played a lot better this year. In the past if you won the toss in Chennai, you had a very good chance of winning the game. But this year all the matches have gone very close here. We know that if we bat first we have to get 160-plus or else we're in trouble. The tracks doesn't get too slow in the second innings and so you have to hit decent areas and have good variations. You had a match-winning partnership with Raina on Thursday. Your thoughts on his knock? He was phenomenal today. When I went in to bat I got a few good balls and couldn't hit boundaries. But every time I got a one, the next ball Suresh hit a six or a four. He has scored runs in the last two-three matches but in the nets right from the start of the tournament we thought, 'geez, Suresh is looking in good nick.' I'm very happy for him. This is his first hundred for us. He's a serious performer and what a talent! Do you think the shots he played straight down the ground were the hallmark of his knock? Definitely! This wicket is a bit low and slow and to succeed here you need to be able to play those straight-bat shots. If you look at the other guys who played well tonight – David Miller played similarly and maintained that shape. This is something we haven't seen Suresh do in the past. It's definitely something that he's worked on in the nets and he's got a fantastic flow on the bat. You have seen him since the first season of IPL. How has he grown as a batsman? I think he's always had the talent as a batsman. Now he's more clever and experienced. He thinks a lot more. He's always batted at three but in the past he would go out and start hitting from ball-one. Now he plays proper cricket shots, targets different bowlers and tries to bat through. When he's out early it's always upsetting in the change room because we know that when he gets us a 75 or 80, we'll always set a 160-plus total. How are you feeling about your game now coming back from injury? Good. I had a good season back home and I came here with a bit of form. Unfortunately I hurt myself in a game and it was frustrating to be on the sidelines being in good form. But it's good to be back on the field. Thursday, I got an opportunity to bat which was nice because that doesn't always happen in a team that bats so deep. I also feel that things are going well with my bowling. Although I'm not picking wickets, I am keeping it tight and bowling in partnerships. You recently hinted that your international career might be over. How hard is it to be realistic and accepting that? I think what I said was taken a bit out of proportion. What I meant was I have no desire to prove anyone wrong. It doesn't mean that I have no desire to play for South Africa. But you have to look at the facts. I haven't played for South Africa for a while and haven't made the last couple of squads. So, from the realistic point of view, if it happens, it's fantastic. If it doesn't, I am at peace with it. I have played 80 games for South Africa and I've had fantastic experiences doing it. We have young players coming in now as they are building a team for the future with two World Cups coming up. I'm totally at peace with that. I'm not the sort of guy who'll sit being negative about it. source: iplt20.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PWI vs RCB - M46 Report & Stats: IPL 2013 Posted: 02 May 2013 10:36 PM PDT Match Report: Royal Challengers Bangalore won their first away game of Pepsi IPL 2013, a 17 run win over Pune Warriors India at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune on Thursday night. Chasing a mammoth 188, Aaron Finch thumped Moises Henriques for a six in the third over before dragging the ball back onto his stumps the next ball. PWI made 39 for one from the Power Play. Suman (11) was put down twice, but his luck finally ran out as Muralitharan ran him out in the seventh over. PWI pushed on as Yuvraj Singh hit two sixes off Henriques in the 9th over. Robin Uthappa joined in hitting Muralitharan for a maximum in the tenth over. At the halfway stage, PWI were 77 for 2 still needing 111 runs.
Vinay Kumar then struck twice in his second over – the 11th over of the innings – when he dismissed Yuvraj Singh (16) and Steven Smith (48). Uthappa slammed his Karnataka teammate for a six, before Angelo Mathews followed suit and hit one off Murali Kartik. Uthappa reached his fifty in style when he dispatched RP Singh for six over midwicket. Needing 66 off the final five overs, Muralitharan was taken apart for 21 runs with three sixes. Vinay Kumar broke the partnership when he had Mathews (32) caught by Chris Gayle at point. Uthappa continued with a six off Vinay Kumar. Murali Kartik sent back Abhishek Nayar (1) and the dangerous Uthappa (75) in the 18th over to leave PWI needing 28 off the last two overs. PWI eventually fell 17 runs short. Earlier electing to bat on a pitch with inconsistent bounce, RCB started cautiously as Saurabh Tiwary and Gayle struggled to play their shots. RCB managed only 30 runs from their power play overs. Gayle (21) smashed Tirumalasetti Suman for a massive six before perishing the next delivery caught in the deep by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Virat Kohli hit Yuvraj Singh for three boundaries in the 11th over. Ashoke Dinda broke the 63-run second wicket partnership when he rattled the timber of Kohli (25). Tiwary slammed Rahul Sharma for a six as he brought up his first half-century for RCB. Dinda had Tiwary (52) caught by Sharma, before de Villiers dispatched him for two boundaries. Henriques (27*) then hit consecutive boundaries off Sharma before he slammed a six off Dinda. AB de Villiers helped his team finish on a high as he scored a half-century off 23 balls; he scored 26 of the final over to help his team to 187 for three.
Man-of-the-Match: AB de Villiers Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 187 for 3 (Saurabh Tiwary 52, Ashoke Dinda 2-52) defeated Pune Warriors India 170 for 9 (Robin Uthappa 75, Vinay Kumar 3-31) by 17 runs.
Stats Highlights: 1: Royal Challengers Bangalore registered their first win in an away match in five games this IPL. 6: Number of consecutive matches lost by Pune Warriors India in IPL 2013. They equaled Delhi Daredevils' record of losing most consecutive matches this year. 24.39: Pune Warriors India's win percentage in IPL – lowest for any side. 75: Robin Uthappa's innings is the highest by a Pune Warriors India batsman in IPL 2013 bettering Aaron Finch's 67 against Chennai Super Kings at Chennai. It was also Uthappa's highest score in Twenty20 cricket. 123: Number of dot balls bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar – most by any bowler in IPL 2013. He went past Dale Steyn's tally of 122 dot balls. 308.33: AB de Villiers' strike-rate against Ashoke Dinda – 37 runs off 12 balls.
Presentation quotes. Finch: Knew we had to take advantage in the first six but we fought well towards the end, well played from Robin and Angelo. Happy to have fought but disappointed to lose again. Inconsistencies have been the story of the tournament for us, the good stuff hasn't come together for us. Kohli: As I said earlier, looking at another game and not as an away game, got tight in the end but good to get the points on board. Team effort today, Tiwary told me at Jaipur he wanted to open and he did well. AB de Villiers is the man of the match: It was a very enjoyable game for me tonight, gave me a lot of pleasure. I do try and read the bowler's mind, premeditate a tad, but need to keep the basics after that. Does not work always but it did tonight. source: iplt20.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CSK vs KXIP - M45 Report & Stats: IPL 2013 Posted: 02 May 2013 10:16 PM PDT Match Report: Chennai Super Kings became the first team to seal a berth in the Pepsi IPL 2013 Play-Offs with a thrilling last over win over Kings XI Punjab at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. CSK, riding on Suresh Raina's superb unbeaten 100, posted a formidable 186, and then kept KXIP down to 171, 15 runs short. This victory was CSK's seventh consecutive victory this season – equaling RCB's record run of consecutive wins in 2011.
Chasing 187, KXIP were jolted early as Mohit Sharma knocked back Luke Pomersbach's (7) stump in the second over. Mandeep Singh was put down on seven by Dwayne Bravo off Sharma. The bowler came back strongly, dismissing Mandeep (15) caught by Raina at extra-cover. Sharma was dispatched for two boundaries in the 8th over as David Hussey and Shaun Marsh started to rebuild their innings. At the halfway stage, KXIP were 65 for 2, still needing 122 runs. David Hussey (22) stepped out and slammed Ravichandran Ashwin for a six before perishing a couple balls later caught by Bravo at long-off. Marsh took 19 runs from Raina's only over – the 12th of the innings - with two sixes and a boundary. David Miller and Marsh put on 95 runs for the fourth wicket. Needing 65 off the final 30 balls, Marsh hit Bravo for two boundaries. Miller (51*) continued his assault with consecutive boundaries off Chris Morris before scoring a six off Bravo to reduce the equation to 30 from 12 balls. KXIP managed 11 runs in the penultimate over. With 19 needed from 6 balls, Bravo dismissed Marsh (73), Gurkeerat Singh (0) and Rajagopal Sathish (0) to herald victory for the home team. Earlier CSK won toss and elected to bat. Wriddiman Saha slammed Praveen Kumar for a six before cutting him away for a boundary in the third over. Saha (18) then hit Parvinder Awana straight to Marsh at deep square-leg to give KXIP their first wicket. Raina survived a run out attempt on four when the TV Umpire gave the batsman the benefit of doubt after replays could not convincingly show the batsman to be out of his ground. CSK made 36 from the Power Play. CSK started to accelerate, as Michael Hussey (35) pulled Manpreet Gony for two boundaries before Chawla fired in a flatter delivery and had him stumped. Raina continued attacking with a six off Chawla. R Sathish ran out CSK skipper MS Dhoni (2) with a brilliant piece of fielding. Raina launched two massive sixes off Gony before smashing Sathish for consecutive boundaries. Albie Morkel joined in, depositing Sathish into the crowd in the 17th over. Awana had Morkel (23) caught by David Miller in the 19th over. Raina brought up his maiden IPL century in the final over as CSK made 186 for four. Man-of-the-Match: Suresh Raina Brief Scores: Chennai Super Kings: 186 for 4 (Suresh Raina 100*, Parvinder Awana 2-29) defeated Kings XI Punjab 171 for 6 (Shaun Marsh 73, Dwayne Bravo 3-34) by 15 runs. Stats Highlights: 100: Runs scored by Suresh Raina in the match – highest innings by a left-handed Indian batsman in IPL. Raina bettered his own record of 98* against Rajasthan Royals at Centurion in 2009. 84: Runs scored by Suresh Raina off the bowling of Piyush Chawla in IPL. There have been only three better performances. Suresh Raina himself has scored 92 runs off the bowling of Sidarth Trivedi, Albie Morkel had 89 off Shane Warne and Gautam Gambhir has scored 87 runs off the bowling of Albie Morkel. 58.16: David Miller's batting average in IPL – highest for any batsman playing a minimum of 10 innings. 33: Number of wickets taken by R Ashwin at Chennai - most by any bowler. He equaled Albie Morkel's tally. 21: Number of batsmen to score hundreds in IPL. In total 27 hundreds have been scored in IPL The break-up: Royal Challengers Bangalore – 5, Delhi Daredevils – 5, Kings XI Punjab-4, Chennai Super Kings- 4, Rajasthan Royals-3, Mumbai Indians- 3, Sunrisers Hyderabad – 2, Kolkata Knight Riders-1. Incidentally Raina is the ninth Indian batsman to score a hundred in IPL. 7: Number of consecutive matches won by Chennai Super Kings. They equal the IPL record of most consecutive wins by a side. Royal Challengers Bangalore had also won seven in a row in 2011.
David Hussey: "Probably the last three overs with the ball (we let it go). Shaun Marsh and David Miller fantastic partership. I reckon we can five out of six." MS Dhoni: "I won't say it is a fortress, I don't think we have performed as well as in the fourth edition of the IPL. We are getting better with every game. We did really well today, Raina batted well with Hussey, the bowling department also overall quite happy, just one tactical error in bringing in Raina. Performance was really great. We had four fast bowlers, in this format if you are doing well, just go through with them, if you hold them for later they could also go for runs." Man of the Match is Suresh Raina. "Feels amazing when you know you have won the game, last hundred I missed out in South Africa. 180 target is not safe on this track." source: iplt20.com |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Indian Cricket Team Updates To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
Post a Comment