Delhi Daredevils Vs Deccan Chargers - 1st Semi-final - SuperSport Park, Centurion

Adam Gilchrists 35 ball 85 ensured the Deccan Chargers made it into the finals of this years IPL season after beating Delhi by 6 wickets. It was not all smooth sailing though, chasing a competitive 154, Deccan made a disastrous start loosing Gibbs for a duck. But that did not deter Glichrist who single handedly took apart the Delhi Bowlers. His innings started off in style, smashing Nannes for 22 in the very first over of the game. In all there were 5 sixes, 10 fours and only 5 dot balls. To put this innings into perspective, Gilchrist had scored 48 when Deccans total reached 50. Deccan were 102/3 at the time of Gilchrists dismissal, Delhi were well and truely knocked out by then. Symonds and Suman then slowly but surely guided Deccan home with 14 balls to spare.

Earlier it was the Deccan bowlers who troubled Delhi. Harris got rid of both openers for duck in the very first over. It was then left to Virender Sehwag and Dlishan to rebuild a cracked Dehi innings. They did well putting on a stand of 85 before Sehwag(39) was snapped by Symonds in the 11th over. De Villier then joined Dlishan to take Delhi past 100. Just when they looked liked cutting loose, De Villiers was sent packing by RP Singh. Things only got worse from there losing batsmen at regular intervals. They ended up with 153/8.

Toss
Deccan Chargers won the toss and chose to field first.

Brief Scores
Delhi Daredevils 153/8 (Dilshan - 65, Sehwag - 39, Harris - 27/3)
Deccan Chargers 154/4 (Gilchrist - 85, Suman - 24*, Mishra - 19/3)

Result
Deccan Chargers won by by six wickets

Banglore Royals Challengers vs Deccan Chargers - Match 56 - SuperSport Park, Centurion

The last league match between Deccan Chargers and Banglore Royal Challengers was just a formality as both the teams had already qualified for the semi - finals. However this match was important as the winner would be setting up a semi-final clash with the Chennai Super Kings and the looser of this match had to face Delhi Daredevils. Kumble who called right decided to bat first and Banglore innings was dominated by one man, the 19 year old Manish Pandey. It was Pandey's day as he became the first Indians to score a ton in the IPL and was awarded the man of the match for his innings. Pandey who was dropped by RP Singh when he was on 2 made the Chargers pay for their mistake. He made 114 from 73 balls hitting 10 fours and 4 sixers. A few aspects which needs to be mentioned about his innings were his hard running and waiting for the ball to come to him before going for his shots. Van de Merwe(23 from 18 balls) and Virat Kohli(19 from 9 balls) provided some good support for Pandey. The fact that around 106 runs came from the last ten overs was a testimony of Deccan bowler's suffering.

Deccan Chargers had a solid start to their chase with a firs wicket partnership of 68 runs before Gilchrist was accounted by Akhil. Most of the Deccan batsman lost their wickets when they looked set for a bigger innings. Suman(12), Symonds(18), R Sharma(12) got the starts but failed to capitalize on it. Gibbs played brilliantly for his 60 but in the end Deccan fell short by 12 runs handing Banglore a crucial morale boosting victory.

Toss
Banglore Royal Challengers won the toss and chose to bat first.

Brief Scores
Banglore Royal Challengers - 170/4 in 20 overs(M Pandey - 114*, V der Merwe - 28, P Ojha - 2/32, A Symonds - 1/15)
Deccan Chargers - 158/8 in 20 overs(H Gibbs - 60, A Symonds - 18, B Akhil - 2/18, A Kumble - 2/23)

Result
Banglore Royal Challengers won by 12 runs.

Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians - Match 55 - SuperSport Park, Centurion

It was the final league match between for the Mumbai Indians and the Daredevils and the need for victory varied for both the teams. While Delhi wanted to win this match to prove their supremacy and go into the semis with some sort of momentum, Mumbai needed this win as a morale booster after crashing out of the tournament. Mumbai who were put in to bat by Delhi didn't have the greatest of starts loosing the wickets of Jayasuriya(0), JP Duminy(9) and Ashraful(2) early in the innings. However Sachin(47 from 38 balls) and Rahane(56 from 41 balls) played brilliantly and helped Mumbai to a total of 165 in their quota of 20 overs. On the bowling front Dirk Nannes bagged 3 wickets for 27 runs and Sangwan picked up a couple of wickets for the Daredevils.
Needing 166 for victory, Delhi started their chase solidly with Gautam Gambhir contributing 47 from 38 balls. Shewag announced his return to form with a brilliant half century from just 27 balls. Shewag belted the hapless Mumbai bowling for 5 fours and 2 big sixers. With just 22 runs for victory from around 6 overs Delhi had a slight hiccup loosing the wickets of Shewag, Dilshan(24 from 14 balls), R Bhatia(2) and de Villers(6) to Harbhajan in a span of 14 balls. But a cameo from Mishra who hit 13 runs of just 4 balls took Delhi to brilliant 4 wicket win with 21 balls to spare.

Toss
Delhi Daredevils won the toss and chose to field.

Brief Scores
Mumbai Indians - 165/8 in 20 overs(A Rahane - 56, S Tendulkar - 46, D Nannes - 3/27, P Sangwan - 2/28)
Delhi Daredevils - 166/6 in 17.3 overs(V Shewag - 50, G Gambhir - 47, H Singh - 4/17, D Kulkarni - 1/36)

Result
Delhi Daredevils won the match by 4 wickets.

Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings - Match 54 - Kingsmead, Durban

Chennai Super Kings kept intact their record of winning all their encounters against Kings XI in IPL by inflicting a 24 run defeat in what was a must win match for Kings XI. Punjab made a mess of their chase and could manage only 92 runs at the end of their quota of 20 overs and ended up 25 runs short of their target of 117. When just a single every ball could have fetched them victory Kings XI batsman applied themselves poorly and some brilliant spin bowling from Murali, Ashwin and Raina dented the the Punjab line up and hence their confidence. Only Pomersbach who made 26 from 32 balls looked dangerous, apart from him the famed Punjab batting line up fell apart and got themselves kicked out of the tournament.

Earlier in the match Chennai could not capitalize on a brilliant platform laid by the opening pair of Parthiv(32 from 23 balls) and Bailey(15 from 12 balls). On a bouncy Durban track Chennai batsman tried to play their strokes and ended up loosing wickets at regular intervals. At the end of 20 overs Chennai could muster only 116 for the loss of 9 wickets, a target which everyone believed could easily be surpassed by Punjab. The jinx that Chennai had never won a match was broken but Punjab must wait till the next IPL to try and break their jinx against Chennai.

Toss
Chennai Super Kings won the toss and chose to bat.

Brief Scores
Chennai Super Kings - 116/9 in 20 overs(P Patel - 32, S Raina - 20, S Sreesanth - 2/23, I Pathan - 2/32)
Kings XI Punjab - 92/9 in 20 overs(L Pomersbach - 26, I Pathan - 14, M Muralidharan - 2/8, R Ashwin - 2/13)

Result
Chennai Super Kings won by 24 runs

Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Rajasthan Royals - Match 53 - Kingsmead, Durban

A four wicket win for Kolkata has put the Rajasthan Royals out of contention for a semi final spot. Langaveldts figure of 15/3 made sure Kolkata were on top of the Royals after a catastrophic first over from Brad Hodge that went for 22 runs. Some excellent bowling combined with some sharp fielding from Kolkata had Rajasthan Struggling at 62/7. Jadeja (14) and Warne (18) provided some hope, but they soon fell trying to increase the scoring rate. Rajasthan finished with a dismal 101/9.

In reply, Kolkata made a disastrous start. Ganguly was out for a duck and McCullum followed the next ball. Just when thongs looked to be settling, yashpal Singh was accounted for by Munaf Patel. He was followed by the Australia pair of Hussey and Hodge. Things only got worse for Kolkata losing Shaikh and struggling at 45/6. At this stage the Royals looked to have found the inspiration that had given them such a sucessful run in the first season.But hopes of a win were soon dashed by Shukla (46), who with the support of Agarkar got the Knight Riders over the line.


Toss
Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and chose to field first.

Brief Scores
Rajasthan Royals 101/9 in 20 overs (Ojha - 22, Warne - 18, Langeveldt 15/3 )
Kolkata Knight Riders - 102/6 in 19.3 overs(Shukla - 46, Agarkar - 13, M Patel 12/2)

Result
Kolkata Knight Riders won by 4 wickets.

Royal Banglore Challengers Vs Delhi Daredevils - Match 52 - New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

It was a do or die match for Royal Banglore Challengers against the tournament leaders Delhi Daredevils. A win here would mean that Royals can keep their semi-finals dream alive, but on the other hand a defeat would make leave them to the mercy of other teams and a must win situation against Deccan Chargers the next match. Delhi who decided to bat first, had another bad start loosing both Shewag and Manhas for "DUCK". The early wickets meant that Delhi could not attack in the first 6 overs and with Dilshan being rested for this match, the Delhi line up looked vulnerable. G Gambhir(27 from 19 balls) and De Villers(28 from 29 balls) could not capitalize on the starts they got. Whenever Delhi looked to accelerate, they lost wickets and hence their run rate never looked ominous. D Karthik's form in this second half of the tournament is an encouraging sign for Delhi. Karthik made 31 from 29 balls. He looked to take singles and doubles and when the time came for him to get his big shots in the last two overs, he lost his wicket to Kumar. In the end Delhi managed a score of 134 loosing 3 wickets. P Kumar picked up two wickets and Kumble got a couple of wickets. But the best bowler for the Banglore was J Kallis. Kallis bowled his four overs conceding just 17 runs and also picked up the important wicket of Gambhir.

The loss of Robin Uthappa early in their chase did not impact the Challengers run chase. Kallis and Rahul were involved in a brilliant partnership and with the run rate not a demanding one, they took time to settle and played risk free cricket. Dravid fell to Nagar after making 38 from 34 balls. Ross Taylor blasted off by hitting 3 sixers and a four, making 25 from just 12 balls, before he succumbed Nagar. With 34 needed from 5 overs Kallis who remained unbeaten on 58 and Boucher ensured a Royal Challenger victory without any further damage.

Toss
Delhi Daredevils won the toss and chose to bat first.

Brief Scores
Delhi Daredevils - 134/7 in 20 overs(D Karthik - 31, AB De villiers - 28, P Kumar - 3/30, A Kumble - 2/24)
Banglore Royal Challengers - 135/3 in 19 overs(J Kallis - 58*, R Dravid - 38*, Y Nagar - 2/20, A Nehra - 1/21)

Result
Banglore Royal Challengers won by 7 wickets

Chennai Super Kings Vs Kolkatta Knight Riders - Match 51 - SuperSport Park, Centurion

Kolkatta surprised themselves and the entire cricketing community by beating the Chennai Super Kings at Centurion. Being the first team to be eliminated from the tournament and languishing at the bottom of the table with their own set of controversies, this win would do Kolkatta a world of good in terms of morale and confidence. Chennai who decided to bat first, started off brilliantly with both Pathiv Patel(25 of 19 balls) and George Bailey(30 of 27 balls) making their intentions clear. A double blow in the form of run-outs gave some hope for the Knight Rider bowlers, but they were not successful in denting the Chennai line up further. Raina and Dhoni were carried it on from where Bailey and Parthiv left. Raina made a brilliant 52 from 36 balls before Dinda got rid of him in the 17th over. Dhoni(40 from 28 balls) on the other end stayed unbeaten and he along with Morkel(21 from 10 balls) who for the first time in the tournament looked ominously with the bat propelled Chennai to a score of 188.

A target of 189 according to the standard of batting displayed by Knight Riders so far was a near impossible task and many thought that Kolkatta would proceed to yet another victory. The early wicket of Ganguly seemed to be the first casualty in another heavy defeat, but McCullum and Hodge had other plans in mind. Playing nothing but dignity and no pressure to qualify for the semis, McCullum played a captains knock scoring 81 from 48 balls. McCullum's knock was studded with 11 fours and three sixers. He was brilliantly supported by B Hodge(71* from 44 balls) and they made Chennai bowling look second class. Chennai had a glimmer of hope when they striked with the wickets of McCullum and Hussey, But a cameo from Saha(26* from 13 balls) and Balaji giving 19 runs of the penultimate over sealed the game for the Kinght Riders. As Dhoni summed it "I have never seen a poor bowling performance like this". Its high time Chennai concentrate on their bowling to stand a chance of winning the tournament.

Toss
Chennai Super Kings won the toss and chose to bat first.

Brief Scores
Chennai Super Kings - 188/3 in 20 overs(S Raina - 52, MS Dhoni - 40*, Dinda - 1/29)
Kolkatta Knight Riders - 189/3 in 20 overs(B McCullum - 81, B Hodge - 71*, M Muralitharan - 1/16, S Jakati - 1/36)

Result
Kolkatta Knight Riders won the match by 7 wickets.