What

Match 13 of Pepsi IPL 2013 will feature a battle between two teams with contrasting fortunes. Pune Warriors India, who’ve lost their first two matches and lie at the bottom of the table, play host to the Rajasthan Royals who’ve won two out of two and are sitting pretty in the top half of the table.

A very good team on paper, the Pune Warriors haven’t quite got their act together. The team failed to chase down 126 and suffered an embarrassing 22-run defeat in their opening match at home. Things went from bad to worse in the second game when, sans Yuvraj Singh, they batted out their entire 20 overs but only managed to post 99 runs on the board. Robin Uthappa, Marlon Samuels, Ross Taylor and Angelo Mathews have reputations of being very dangerous batsmen; but between them, they’ve only managed to contribute 97 runs in two matches and that has hurt the team big time. Having lost two matches, they will want to get their first points on the board and they have a good chance of doing so when they play this home fixture.

The Rajasthan Royals may not possess too many superstars in their line-up. But their strength lies in the fact that all the players in the line-up play with freedom and punch above their weight. The team would have learnt their lessons from last season, when they won four of their first six matches but only managed to win three of their remaining ten, eventually missing out on a Play-Off berth by just one win.

When

Thursday, April 11, 2013, 8 p.m

Where

Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium, Pune

The Protagonists

The Pune Warriors India will look forward to the return of Yuvraj Singh to their line-up. The southpaw had to miss the previous game owing to back injury and is more than likely to be available for this match. Also keep an eye on Ross Taylor whose place in the XI could come under the scanner after two poor outings and with growing voices for the inclusion of Steve Smith. The 23-year old Smith was Pune Warriors’ second-highest run-getter last season and was in good touch during Australia’s Test series in India recently.

For Rajasthan Royals, Ajinkya Rahane showed glimpses of good form in the previous match. Given his growth chart as a cricketer, he will be expected to play a key role for the Royals. Shane Watson didn’t contribute too much in his first outing and he will be itching to make a bigger contribution, as will Brad Hodge whose knock was chiefly responsible in RR posting a respective total against KKR.

Previous Meetings

The Rajasthan Royals have a 100% record against Pune Warriors India. The two teams have so far met on three occasions and the Rajasthan Royals have won each of those matches.

Trivia

Pune Warriors India will be very keen to improve on their home record; the team has only managed to win two of the nine matches they’ve played at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune.

Siddharth Trivedi is the Rajasthan Royals’ most-capped player; he has played 61 of the franchises 76 matches in the IPL.

What Next

Pune Warriors India will hop across the city to the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai to take on the Mumbai Indians on April 13 while the Rajasthan Royals will head back home to host Kings XI Punjab on April 14.
 
Picture
What

Match 12 of Pepsi IPL 2013 will feature the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders.

After losing a thrilling tie in the Super Over in an away game to SRH, RCB rallied back brilliantly on their home turf to defeat the Sunrisers Hyderabad convincingly. The Kolkata Knight Riders meanwhile opened their account in convincing style when they defeated the Delhi Daredevils in the tournament opener. However, chasing a modest total against the Rajasthan Royals, the defending champions fell short by 19 runs.

When

Thursday, April 11, 2013, 4 p.m

Where

M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

The Protagonists

Virat Kohli showed the other night – in the home match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad - that RCB was not a one man team. There is no doubt Chris Gayle will consume most of the space in the media and most time in opponents’ team meetings, but in Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers RCB have two of the game’s best finishers.

Though they got outclassed in the away fixture against the Rajasthan Royals, the Kolkata Knight Riders are a solid outfit. In Gautam Gambhir they have a captain who believes in leading by example. The KKR skipper confirmed at the pre-match press conference that the hard-hitting Brendon McCullum was fit and rearing to go. His availability and inclusion in the XI will be a huge fillip to the team’s batting line-up.

On the bowling front, it is going to be a battle of the two spin wizards – Sunil Narine and Muttiah Muralitharan. Batsmen have found Narine, the Purple Cap holder, to be extremely difficult to get away; in his two matches so far this season he has conceded only 41 runs in the eight overs. The wily Muraitharan has picked up a solitary wicket, but he has only conceded 71 runs in twelve overs. Young Jaydev Unadkat has kept the runs down and picked up important wickets too.

Previous Meetings

These two teams were involved in the very first IPL match – back in 2008 – when Brendon McCullum got the IPL off to a flying start with a breathtaking single-handed demolition of the RCB.

Since then the two teams have met on nine occasions and RCB have managed to even the scales, winning five to leave the head to head at five apiece. In the last IPL season, KKR won both their league matches against RCB by convincing margins.

Trivia

Brendon McCullum’s unbeaten 158 against RCB in the opening game of the inaugural IPL is still the highest individual score in T20 cricket.

What Next

RCB will hop across to neighbouring Chennai for their away fixture against the Chennai Super Kings on April 13 while the Kolkata Knight Riders will head back home to host Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 14.

 
Chennai Super Kings registered their first win of Pepsi IPL 2013 with an authoritative 10 wicket win over Kings XI Punjab at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali. CSK were led by their bowlers who dismissed KXIP for just 138 before their opening batsmen chased it down with 16 balls remaining.

Chasing a modest 139, CSK started their chase cautiously and put on 38 runs in the power play. Michael Hussey (86*) survived a nervous moment as a direct hit from Ryan Harris seemed to catch him short, but the third umpire ruled in the batsman's favor giving him the benefit of doubt. KXIP squandered the opportunities they created as Piyush Chawla put down Michael Hussey off his own bowling before Adam Gilchrist missed a stumping chance giving Murali Vijay (50*) a life. 

CSK got a move on smashing Harris, the innings’13th over for three boundaries and in the process, Hussey brought up his fifty. Murali Vijay then got into the act hitting a couple of boundaries. The openers brought up the century partnership in the 15th over. Hussey smashed Azhar Mahmood for a six and a boundary to take his team to the verge of victory, CSK eventually reaching the target in the 18th over.

Earlier, put into bat, KXIP started with a boundary off the very first delivery through Mandeep Singh. But CSK struck early as Dirk Nannes first had Gilchrist (9) caught by Michael Hussey at leg gully before having Mandeep (9) miscue a pull shot to leave KXIP stuttering at 20 for 2. Manan Vohra (16) smashed Chris Morris for two boundaries, before perishing caught by Michael Hussey off Ravindra Jadeja.

David Hussey (41) was given a reprieve when Vijay dropped him on 12. He hit the first six of the match in the 10th over depositing Dwayne Bravo over mid-wicket. Along with Gurkeerat Singh (31), David Hussey steadily built the KXIP innings putting on 55 runs for the fourth wicket. But disaster struck as KXIP lost their two set batsmen in the span of two overs as Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed the dangerous David Hussey before Bravo followed it with the wicket of Gurkeerat Singh. Mahmood (8) fell soon after to give Morris his first IPL wicket. The slide continued as R Satish (8) and Chawla (4) departed in Bravo's 18th over. The late flurry of wickets saw KXIP bundled out for 138.

Man-of-the-Match: Michael Hussey 

Brief Scores: Kings XI Punjab 138 all out (David Hussey 41, Dwayne Bravo 3-27) lost to Chennai Super Kings 130 for no loss in 17.2 Overs (Michael Hussey 86*, Murali Vijay 50*) by 10 wickets. 
 
Picture
Rajasthan Royals continued their winning form with a convincing 19 run win over Kolkata Knight Riders at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. Defending a modest 144, the RR bowlers put on a good show to bowl out KKR for 125 to script their second win of the tournament.

Chasing 145, KKR started off briskly with Gautam Gambhir giving the charge to Sreesanth and depositing him for a six in the very first over. Rahul Shukla struck twice in the third over, first bowling Manvinder Bisla (1) before having Jaques Kallis (0) caught behind. Siddharth Trivedi then further sunk KKR dismissing Gambhir (22) and Manoj Tiwary (14) in quick succession. Yusuf Pathan (0) fell the very next over to Kevon Cooper leaving KKR reeling at 44 for 5.

Laxmi Shukla (2) fell to Trivedi handing him his third wicket. Eoin Morgan (51) who was given an early reprieve by Shane Watson on 2, made the most of it smashing Rahul Shukla for a boundary and a six off the 14th over. KKR lost Rajat Bhatia (12) holing out at deep midwicket off Shaun Tait, before Sreesanth picked up Brett Lee (5). 

Needing 23 runs from the last two overs, Cooper sealed the match taking the wicket of the well set Morgan who was slow to begin but played some sparkling strokes once he had his eye in. KKR were finally bowled out for 125 runs, 19 short of RR’s total. 

Earlier in the evening, KKR won the toss and elected to field. Lee struck first having the dangerous Watson (5) caught at short extra cover. Ajinkya Rahane hit two consecutive boundaries off Mohammad Shami, but RR struggled to find momentum and managed just 35 runs in the power play. Bhatia bowled Rahul Dravid (17) to give KKR their second wicket. Stuart Binny (14) followed soon after out leg before to Laxmi Shukla.

Rahane put his foot on the pedal hitting Mohammad Shami for a six, as RR took 14 runs of his over, but KKR struck back with Sunil Narine striking twice. He first removed Rahane (36) caught behind before having Kevon Cooper stumped. Brad Hodge (46*) struck a few lusty blows to push forward RR's score. He found an ideal companion in Dishant Yagnik (16) who smashed a six and a boundary of Narine to score 18 runs of the 19th over. RR eventually finished at 144 for 6 from their 20 overs.

Man-of-the-Match: Siddharth Trivedi

Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals 144 for 6 in 20.0 overs (Brad Hodge 45*, Sunil Narine 2-28) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 125 all out in 20.0 overs (Eoin Morgan 51, Siddharth Trivedi 3-23) by 19 runs.

 
Picture
What

Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders play their first away fixture of the Pepsi IPL VI season when they take on the Rajasthan Royals.

Both teams come into this fixture after beating the Delhi Daredevils in their respective opening games. While the Kolkata Knight Riders registered a convincing win in the season opener, the Rajasthan Royals held their nerves to clinch a 5-run victory at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Saturday.

The Royals are formidable opponents while playing at home; they’ve won 16 of their 25 home fixtures. However, in IPL 2012, they only managed to win half their home games and they will be aware that they need to do better to push for a place amongst the top four teams.

The Kolkata Knight Riders meanwhile are on a roll; they’ve won each of their last five matches – stretching into last season – and will be hoping to extend that run well into the season.

When

Monday, April 8, 2013, 8 p.m

Where

Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur

The Protagonists

The Rajasthan Royals will be boosted by the availability of Shane Watson. Watson has been a consistent performer for the Royals with both bat and ball. However, in the initial games this season he will only be available for selection as a batsman. The Royals will be hoping that the Australian not only makes useful contributions but goes on to make those big scores.

Despite not playing any other form of cricket, Rahul Dravid looked in good touch in the opening game and was the Royals’ top-scorer. Though he pulled a muscle and did not take the field for the better part of the Daredevils’ run-chase, the Royals’ skipper has expressed confidence that he would have recovered enough to take the field in his team’s first home game. Brad Hodge, the top run-getter in the Twenty20 format, along with Owais Shah will be the other key names in the batting line-up.

For KKR, look no further than skipper Gautam Gambhir. The southpaw, a very determined character and one who believes in leading from the front, looked in good touch in the season opener and he will be keen to carry that form through the tournament.

Among the bowlers, the eight overs of L Balaji and Sunil Narine (together) and how much the opponents score of those overs, could have a significant bearing on the result. No one has bettered the art of bowling on sub-continent conditions better than Balaji, while batsmen are yet to decipher the mystery of Narine. 

Previous Meetings

There’s nothing to separate the Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders where previous fixtures are concerned. Both the Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders have won five matches apiece. However barring the one tied fixture in 2009 which was won by the Rajasthan Royals in the one-over eliminator, all the remaining nine matches have been clearly one-sided fixtures. 

Trivia

The Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir currently shares the record for the most half-centuries in the IPL with Chris Gayle and Jacques Kallis. All three players have scored 16 50-plus scores in the IPL.

What Next

Both team’s next fixtures are scheduled on April 11. The Rajasthan Royals will next be seen in action at Pune when they take on Pune Warriors India, while the Kolkata Knight Riders will head down south to the Garden City of Bengaluru to take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

 
Picture
Standing by the boundary line, with his hands folded and chest held high was Dayanand Cheedi; assistant to the chief coach of Hanuma Vihari who saw one of his favorite students collecting the man of the match award in the post match presentation ceremony. 
A smile donned his face; his eyes bore tears of joy as the hard work and sweat put in by Vihari all these years had finally paid off. “I knew one day his dedication and sincerity would bear fruit,” said a visibly happy.

“You should see him at the throw downs, you should see him practice. The amount of hard work he puts into his game, is worth admiring. He is a work horse. He would bat for hours, take throw downs from me and ask me for advices on his game. His chief coach John Manoj would be a happy man today.” explained Cheedi who has worked closely with Vihari over the years and was eagerly waiting to congratulate the young lad from Hyderabad.

For Vihari, it’s a dream come true. May it be being amidst the best cricketers and sipping a hot cup of tea or longing for advice on his game from the legends; Vihari is cherishing each and every moment in the IPL. 

“I did well in the domestic season for Hyderabad and the owners chose me to play for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Normally you don’t get chances in the IPL, but am fortunate enough to be playing here. I never thought before the IPL that I would be sharing the dressing room with the greats of cricket. It is like I am living a dream. I am blessed to have got such an opportunity.”

And when Vihari got his opportunity, he sure made the most of it. He got to bowl his first over in the IPL, in the second over of the match between the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Royal Challengers Bangalore. What was to follow, neither the crowd nor Gayle nor Vihari himself would have expected as he bagged the big fish in the bag. The gentle off spinner had done the trick; Chris Gayle was out for 1 and it was a big blow early on for the RCB. Not surprisingly, the nineteen year old cherished the moment whole heartedly. 

“It is a dream come true for me to get Chris Gayle’s wicket. Getting the wicket of the best T20 player in the world in the very first ball is special for me.” Vihari also said that it was a special plan devised by the team to get the destructive Gayle out. 

“It was our special plan to bowl spin to Gayle early in the innings. We noticed that he had stuck around in the first six overs in the previous match and then went big towards the end. So the team think tank took a chance by bowling me to Gayle in the very second over of the match. I am glad I got him out and our plan worked.”

When asked if there were some nerves in the dressing room during that one over thriller, Vihari calmly said, “I was confident that we would win when Thisara Perera and Cameron White put up 20 runs in the one over eliminator. White and Perera, both are huge hitters and they set up the target perfectly which I thought would put even a destructive batsman like Gayle under pressure. Plus we had a world class bowler in Dale Steyn against whom it was always going to be tough to score against.”

Vihari indeed looked a confident man after a man of the match performance as he picked up a wicket in the only over he bowled throughout the match and scored an unbeaten 44 of 46 balls to keep the Sunrisers’ hopes alive. “The wicket was double paced. I knew I had to bat till the end if my team had to cross the line. It was important for us to keep the wickets in hand till the end so that we could chase down the target.” 

Like any other budding cricketer Vihari wishes to represent India one day. But at the moment his focus is purely on the IPL. He was the show stealer for the Sunrisers’ Hyderabad on a fabulous Sunday night, and playing in front of a huge crowd indeed felt special for the nineteen year old. “It is always special to play matches like these in front of a huge crowd. These are matches that I will remember for the rest of my life.”

“I dedicate this performance to my mother and all my coaches without whose support I wouldn’t not have been here talking about my performance,” said the shy Vihari while signing off.

 
Picture
Sun Risers Hyderabad won their second match on the trot defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore in an exciting Super Over at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. The match went to the very last over and SRH, needing 2 of the last ball, tied the match to take it to the Super Over. 

In the Super Over, SRH batting first, managed to score 20 runs as Cameron White thumped R Vinay Kumar for two sixes and then Dale Steyn came on for SRH and gave away only 15 runs despite Chris Gayle's six, that kept RCB in the hunt off the penultimate ball. 

Earlier chasing 131, SRH started on a lucky note as Parthiv Patel was dropped early by Chris Gayle but he failed capitalise on it as Moises Henriques had Patel edge to the wicket-keeper. Henriques struck again in his next over sending back White (5). 

Akshath Reddy (23) and Hanuma Vihari (44*) started to build a partnership before the former was bowled by Muttiah Muralitharan. Jaydev Unadkat struck twice to dismiss Kumar Sangakara (16) and Thisara Perera to get RCB back into the match. Vinay then ran out Amit Mishra, before Ashish Reddy (14) dismissed him for a six and a boundary in the 18th over.
 
Needing seven runs of the very last over, RCB's hero from the match against MI, Vinay dismissed Reddy of the first ball. Some frantic running from SRH got them down requiring 2 runs off the last ball. The batsmen ran the final ball through to the keeper to tie the match. 

Earlier RCB won the toss and chose to bat. Vihari struck with his very first delivery having Gayle (1) edge to the wicket-keeper. Ishant Sharma then got into the act sneaking through Tillakaratne Dilshan's (5) defense, and shattering his stump. SRH bowlers strangled the flow of runs and at the halfway stage RCB had scored only 55 runs. 

Virat Kohli (46) and Henriques got on with the task of rebuilding the innings putting on 43 runs before Ashish Reddy got rid of Kohli caught of his own bowling. Mayank Agarwal (7) was given a lifeline when Ishant Sharma dropped him at deep wicket but he failed to capitalise on it and fell to Dale Steyn the next over. Henriques (44) who had played aggressively fell in the search of quick runs and RCB eventually finished at 130 for 8 from their 20 overs.

Man-of-the-Match: Hanuma Vihari 

Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 130 for 8 in 20.0 overs (Virat Kohli 46; Ishant Sharma 3-27) tied with Sun Risers Hyderabad 130 for 7 in 20.0 overs (Hanuma Vihari 44*; Moises Henriques 2-14). Sun Risers Hyderabad won the match in the Super over.

 
Picture
Kings XI Punjab, playing their first match of the Pepsi IPL 2013 tournament, started off in grand style, routing Pune Warriors India by eight wickets at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune. KXIP managed to chase the small target of 100 runs after a wonderful effort by their bowlers restricted PWI to 99. 

Chasing just 100 runs, Adam Gilchrist (15) got KXIP going with 14 runs of the very first over. He struck two boundaries and a six off Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Angelo Matthews then had his counterpart, Gilchrist, caught at deep square leg. Ashok Dinda's second over was taken apart for 21 runs as IPL debutant, Manan Vohra (43*) hit him for four successive boundaries. 

Vohra along with Mandeep Singh (31) put on 58 runs for the second wicket to set up the chase for KXIP. Mandeep was dropped on 22 by Dinda, but he couldn’t capitalise on it as Rahul Sharma dismantled the stumps behind him the next over. Vohra and David Hussey (8*) saw the team home with 46 balls remaining.

Earlier PWI won the toss and elected to bat. Praveen Kumar drew first blood bowling Manish Pandey for a duck. Yuvraj Singh who sat out due to a sore back was missed dearly. Under pressure from disciplined Punjab bowling, Tirumalasetti Suman (6) fell trying to break the shackles giving Azhar Mahmood his first wicket. Marlon Samuels (3) soon followed, run out courtesy of a brilliant throw by Mandeep Singh.

It only got worse as Robin Uthappa (19) had his stumps rearranged by Chawla and Parvinder Awana then had Angelo Matthews (4) caught behind leaving PWI in dire straight at 38 for 5 in 10 overs. Ross Taylor (15) joined the procession with Gurkeerat Singh pulling an absolute blinder of a catch in the deep. The collapse continued as Mitchell Marsh (15) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (8) departed in the pursuit of runs. Abhishek Nayar (25*) helped PWI salvage some runs to reach 99 for 9 from their 20 overs. 

Man-of-the-Match: Manan Vohra. 

Brief Scores: Pune Warriors India 99 for 9 in 20.0 overs (Abhishek Nayar 25*, Azhar Mahmood 2-19) lost to Kings XI Punjab 100 for 2 in (Manan Vohra 43*, Angelo Mattthews 1-12) by 8 wickets. 

 
Picture
Chennai Super Kings are the most consistent team of the Indian Premier League. They’ve won the title twice and have always made it to the top four. However, MS Dhoni’s team plead guilty of being slow starters. They begin on the wrong foot before suddenly overtaking other teams to make the business end of the tournament.

The custom continued in Pepsi IPL 2013 when CSK conceded a home game to the Mumbai Indians by nine runs. After the match iplt20.com caught up with one of CSK’s star all-rounders, Dwayne Bravo, who said it is a good thing for the team to peak at the right time.

Before the interview, the flamboyant West Indian asked, “Why did you choose me for the interview?” Given his contribution in the match was 4-0-44-2 with the ball, 10 runs off 17 balls and a catch! But we are sure that after reading about him talk of his on-field banter with T&T team-mate and ‘best friend’, Kieron Pollard and his innovative dance moves on the field, you’ll know exactly why.

Not a good way to get the ball rolling, is it?

It’s the first game and not a good way to start the tournament. But in a long tournament like this it’s not right to press the panic button yet. History shows that we normally start off slow and then gain momentum. It’s nice to get into the tournament. We have a few new comers in the team who’re playing for the first time. There were a few guys (Ben Laughlin, Dirk Nannes and Ankit Rajpoot) made their debuts for CSK today. 
It’s good that they got over with their first game and we’re looking forward to the coming games. We have a few things to work on and as a team we know what to do. We have a good balanced team and I’m not worried. 

CSK seemed to have formed this custom of bouncing back after a rocky start?


It’s a good thing in a way and that’s why the other teams are vary of us. Whenever they come to play against us they bring their A game because they know that when it really matters we really turn it on. We’re able to get over the line from any situation and it’s a proven fact. We’d want to win every game that we play but in a long tournament like this it’s impossible to do that.

Since two of your successful overseas players, Albie Morkel and Faf du Plessis, are missing for a while, has the responsibility on you increased on the batting front?


Yes, definitely. They’re two top players and it’s difficult to fill their shoes. Albie is one of the cleanest hitters of the ball and Faf had a fantastic season with us last year. Yes, we’re going to miss them both and this is an opportunity for me to stand up and play an even bigger role. I know I have a big part to play for CSK and I’ll try to make the most of the big opportunity.

Coming to today’s match, do you think Pollard’s catch of Dhoni changed the game against CSK?

Yes. With Mahi there, we had all chances of winning and he was just two hits away from winning the game for us. Unfortunately he hit the ball to the best fielder in the MI team (Kieron Pollard). If it was anyone else, the ball would’ve probably gone for a six. But you have to give due credit to Mahi. He came at a situation where we were really out of the game and singlehandedly brought us back into the game.

Talking of Pollard, we noticed that you love to have those mini battles against him on the field, don’t you?

We’re best friends and whenever we play against each other that extra competition is always there. We always try to get the better of each other. If you remember, the last season I dismissed him and sent him off and he had that at the back of his mind today. I knew that his innings would make a big difference in the game. In this format he’s one of the best players in the world. He won it for them today. But we will have a match in Mumbai and I look forward to settling the account there.

Do you plan to unleash a new dance move in every match this IPL season?

Everybody at CSK looks forward to me doing some kind of a jig. It’s something that I started to keep the fans happy. It’s also a part of my style; I enjoy playing the game and being part of this team. I love playing cricket here in Chennai. They’re good people and I like it that I can do things to make them happy and keep them entertained. 

 
Picture
Mumbai Indians managed to score their first points of the season with a nine-run win over Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium late on Saturday night. After an early collapse, Kieron Pollard helped revive the MI innings to post a competitive 148 which the bowlers defended in fighting fashion against a resurgent CSK side.

Chasing a modest 149, CSK lost Murali Vijay (5) as Munaf Patel struck timber in his first over. Mitchell Johnson got MI their second success sending back Suresh Raina caught by Ricky Ponting. Michael Hussey (20) lived a charmed life after being dropped when on 1 and 9, but was finally castled by Harbhajan Singh.

At the halfway stage, CSK still required 91 runs from 60 balls and were struggling to find any sort of rhythm. Pragyan Ojha struck twice dismissing Dwayne Bravo (10) and S Badrinath (16) putting CSK on the mat. 

Ravindra Jadeja (16) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2) fell in the pursuit of quick runs needing a miracle from Dhoni (51). He almost did just that, hitting 15 runs of Pollard's 17th over to help his team inch closer to the target. However, needing 12 off the final over, the first delivery saw Dhoni attempting to hit one over the midwicket boundary, but Kieron Pollard leapt in the air and plucked off a stunning catch. CSK eventually fell nine runs short of the target.  

Earlier in the evening, the Mumbai Indians won the toss and opted to bat first. The move backfired as Dirk Nannes trapped Sachin Tendulkar for a duck in the very first over. IPL debutant, Ankit Rajpoot then had Ponting (6) caught at slip attempting a pull leaving the visitors at 18 for 2 in 3.2 overs. Dinesh Karthik (37) and Rohit Sharma (8) were both given an early reprieve, but Sharma failed to capitalizs on it and fell nicking Bravo to the wicket-keeper. Bravo struck again removing Karthik leg before in his next over, leaving MI stuttering at 59 for 4.

The slide continued as Ben Laughin then had Ambati Rayudu (7) caught at third man. Dwayne Smith joined the procession as he holed out off Ashwin. Pollard (57*) was the savior for MI playing a brutal innings smashing five huge sixes. Along with Harbhajan Singh (21*), Pollard helped MI put on a decent total on the board with a late flourish. Pollard ended MI's innings with a six to finish at 148 for 6 from their 20 overs.

Man-of-the-Match:  Kieron Pollard

Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 148-6 in 20.0 Overs (Kieron Pollard 57*, Dwayne Bravo 2-44) beat Chennai Super Kings 139-9 in 20.0 Overs (MS Dhoni 51, Munaf Patel 3-29) by 9 runs.