Qualifier-1 Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians, Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

QUALIFIER-1

CSK vs MI

Venue-           Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, Delhi
Match Officials- N.Llong, R.Tucker, S.Ravi(Umpires),  R.Mahanama(Refree)    

Toss-  CSK won the toss and chose to Bat first!

Result-  CSK won by 48 runs!

Man Of The Match- MICHAEL HUSSEY

Match Report-

                  So after 72 matches, it was the time for the Play Offs. Four teams, Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad qualified for the play-offs. CSK and MI with 11 wins apiece were on the top of the table. It meant, they had 2 chances to go through for the finals. So the 1st qualifier to book one place in the final was played on 21st May in Delhi. 

       Both teams coming from a loss needed to win the match badly to go through the finals directly! Still Mumbai Indians were high on confidence as they had beaten CSK on both occasions in the league stage. Though DD were not playing, the stadium was jam-packed, supporting both the teams. CSK won the toss and chose to bat first in an all important encounter. Sachin Tendulkar was still not fit for this match. MI made 4 changes from their last game, bringing back Dwayne Smith, Johnson, Munaf Patel and Ojha... while on other side, CSK had only one change as they brought in the all-rounder Albie Morkel. Vijay and Hussey opened the bating, and gave CSK a good start. 6 overs of the powerplay were done and dusted when the scorecard read 47/0! After sharing 52 runs partnership Vijay was gone on 23(20), Pollard dismissed him. Then came Mr. Consistent in IPL to join Mr. Cricket in the middle. Bhajji and Ojha were bowling really well in the middle. After 9 overs, CSK were 69/1! Time-Out came in handy for CSK as they played some attacking shots after the timeout was finished. They started to score at a good pace as they were finding atleast one boundary every over. 15 overs later, the score was 123/1! In last 5 overs, CSK scored 67 runs. Both the batsmen remained not out till the end, as CSK finished the innings on 192/1 in 20 overs. It was a formidable total, considering it was a play-off match. Raina- 82(42) and Hussey-86(58) batted through the innings. MI bowlers looked all over the place on the flat track at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
                      Smith and Tare opened the batting for MI. Mohit Sharma conceded two boundaries in the first over, which was a good sign for MI that the ball was nicely coming on to the bat. But Tare looked in hurry as he gave a simple catch to Vijay in very next over of Albie Morkel. Smith was in  the mood though. He played some fearless cricketing shots. He hit Mohit, Albie, Ashwin and Morris all over the park. After 6 overs MI were looking good at 56/1! Smith who brought up his 50 in the next over, continued his own way of bating for the next couple of overs as well. 86/1 after 8 overs, MI were certainly ahead of CSK at that point. 9th over which was bowled by Jadeja gave CSK the break-through that they needed. Smith-68(28) who tried to attack Jadeja was caught at point by Raina. Till then the other batsman Kartik wasn't finding middle of the bat at all. He and captain Rohit Sharma needed to carry on where Smith had left, but they never really got going. In 11th and 12th overs, Jadeja and Morris took wickets of Karthik and Rohit respectively, leaving MI in trouble 101/4 (12 overs). Pollard was at the crease, and MI needed him to fire, badly. MI needing 80 from 6 overs, Pollard hit Jadeja for 2 sixes on consecutive deliveries, keeping the hopes alive. But Dhoni's captaincy took the wicket of Pollard once again. The ball was fired on the legs of Pollard, he flicked it and Hussey took a good low catch on the edge of 30 yards circle, he was alone inside the circle there, place exactly where the ball went. Pollard- 24(16) was out! And that was it. MI didn't recover at all after that... The wickets just kept falling. Along with Jadeja, Bravo also took 3 wickets. Raina took a brilliant catch to dismiss Johnson. Apart from dropped catch by Dhoni, CSK were brilliant in the field. Morris and Bravo took brilliant catches in the end. MI were all out for 144, as CSK won the match by 48 runs and booked a ticket of the final.

                        

My Views-  

                         For MI the target was definitely achievable, but it needed some explosive batting from one end while someone to bat through from the other end. They must have missed Sachin. Or Smith should have looked to bat through rather than going after every ball. CSK bowlers bowled in right areas after a shaky start. Fielding was just brilliant. 
                  After wining the toss and chosing to bat first, Vijay and Hussey got off to a good start.  Giving Johnson a rest in the last match, was really wrong thing to do. If any bowler is in rhythm you shouldn't give him a rest and break his momentum. And it was a pressure game for Munaf Patel as he was playing after missing 13 matches. CSK made full use and scored heavily. Malinga bowled well but gave away plenty as CSK duo Hussey and Raina improvised well to get runs off Malinga! Michael Hussey was declared Man Of The Match. While he also got Orange Cap and Bravo got the purple cap. 

Highlights Of Match in Photos---

Toss

GROUP PICS of both the teams

Raina and Hussey complementing each other

Smith played a fiery innings

Raina took a brilliant catch to dismiss Johnson

Man Of The Match and Orange Cap Winner M. Hussey

Purple Cap Winner D. Bravo

SPECIAL POST!!! Experience of watching a live match in stadium!!!

 At last, I saw a match live in stadium!

Garware Pavilion

I was super excited to see a live match. Everyone from our group expected a close contest between two heavyweights of IPL, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. We went in the stadium 2 hours, before the match starts.. And what a sight it was... Amazing view of the pitches, ground, stadium! The people were coming in slowly. We were in shed, so didn't have to cope with the heat in Mumbai much.

Poster outside the stadium

          After 45 minutes or so, we saw glimpses of MI players, as they walked in for warm up! We were shouting when each player and support staff member came! Jonty Rhodes, Pollard, Malinga and also Sachin got the biggest cheer when they walked in! After 15 minutes or so, CSK players also came in. First came the coach, Flemming, then some of young Indian players. Michael Hussey also got a huge cheer, when he came out to practice. Raina, Badrinath, Vijay practiced on the sideline. M.S.Dhoni did also get a big cheer, and obviously biggest from me, when he walked in, with his walking style!!!

Me---at Wankhede

First look at the beautiful stadium

CSK's Vijay and coach Fleming and Samir Kochar

He straight away went to the practice pitches, where he bowled 4-5 balls along with, Nannes, Mohit Sharma, Rajppot, Laughlin and Morris. All the players did some warm-up. Ravi Shastri was ready for the toss. Both the captains wore their jersey's and came pitchside for the toss. Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bat first.We were holding the Posters, that we had created. Many people sitting ahead us were reading them, and were appreciating us. People were coming in to occupy their seats. And the stadium was getting filled up! Big roar came when the team was announced. With 15mins to go for the match, players walked out, to get freshen up! But one man was still practicing and hitting the one stump, which he was given to bowl at- Dirk Nannes! He wasn't in the playing-XI for CSK but he was hitting the one stump consistently with a good speed. That was real sportsmanship from him, even if you are not in team, you should give your best! In the heat, it was a whole hearted effort that he put in!

MI players practicing

        With 5 mins to go for the match, the stadium was full! Sachin and Smith walked in. And what a view it was... We were able to see, where the ball was pitching, was it swinging or spinning or going straight. Before this many people told me that, we can't see anything and all that... But even if we were on the third level, it was a treat to watch. Crowd was cheering for every ball. Both of them started very slowly. CSK's new ball bowlers were right on money with the new ball. Jadeja removed Sachin while Smith was caught and bowled by Bravo. And Bravo as usual did show his new dance on the field. Everyone enjoyed it a lot! MI lost wickets on regular basis. 99/5 in 17 overs at one stage, MI finished on 139/5, thanks to the final flourish by Bhajji and Rohit Sharma.

One of the moment when SIR Jadeja was bowling

Hussey and Vijay coming to open the batting

         At that point of time, I thought that CSK will easily chase that down, with the batting line-up they had. But it wasn't to be.... They were very complacent in their approach. Michael Hussey was dropped 3 times, by Pollard on 3 consecutive deliveries by Johnson in the first over. But in 3rd over, Johnson came back well, dismissing Vijay, Raina and Badrinath in one over. Suyal dismissed Bravo. While sending Ashwin ahead of Dhoni didn't work. After 9 overs, CSK was struggling, 40/5 with Hussey and Dhoni in the middle. Ojha dismissed both of them cheaply, that almost meant that MI will win the match easily. With 55/9 in 13 overs, it looked as if CSK will be bowled out on the lowest score in IPL history. But Johnson conceded 20 runs in that 14th over. Finally in 16th, Ojha dismissed Jadeja to wrap up the match for MI!
          I was really stunned by the performance, so were the other CSK fans in the stadium! But I knew, it wasn't the end of IPL for them and they will surely bounce back from this. I applauded for Mumbai's performance. It was great to see both the teams hand-shaking and having a chat with smiles on their faces.

Sachin- fielding on the boundary line

              Many of you may not have seen the scenes there. But Bravo, Pollard, Smith and Jason Holder were having a long chat, they were sharing jokes on the sideline. Dhoni also joined them after a while and was teasing Pollard about those dropped catches and also was saying why did he(Pollard) take his(MSD's) catch? We could see that from their expressions and movements of hands. While Raina and Bhajji were sitting near the boundary line and chatting about something serious. Michael Hussey received orange cap from Ravi Shastri, with mixed emotions. Nita Ambani after doing a quick interview ran to be a part of presentation ceremony! There was lot's of noise so was unable to hear what players said. But Johnson was named man of the match!!
      Overall it was a good experience. But would surely have loved it more if it was an interesting match rather than a one-sided affair. Loved the experience. Must watch a match in a full house, at least  once in a lifetime!    

Hand shake!

  

4 West Indians and Dhoni
And Bhajji and Raina on the sideline

 
 

Match-39, DD vs PWI, Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur

MATCH-39

DD VS PWI

Venue- Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur

Match Officials- C.Nandan, S. Ravi, K.Dharamsena(Umpires),                             R.Mahanama(Refree)    

Toss-  PWI won the toss and chose to field first!

Result- DD won by 15 runs!

Man Of The Match- DAVID WARNER

Match Report-

                  It was a bottom-of-table contest between, DD and PWI! Raipur become a new city to host a IPL match. It was a home ground for DD! Having second biggest capacity, after Eden Gardens (In INDIA), it was full house! The people came in numbers to watch an IPL game! PWI won the toss and chose to field first. The pitch was a bouncy one and the outfield was quite large. DD had a watchful start. But they lost Jayawardene in 5th over, Dinda took the wicket.. Sehwag played some glorious as well as attacking shots. He was looking good on that pitch. In 10th over, Dinda striked again, getting rid of Sehwag-28(26). In very next over, Unmukt Chand was dismissed by Rahul Sharma. Suddenly DD were 68/3 in 10.2 overs with 2 new batsmen Warner and Rohrer in the middle. Rohrer couldn't support Warner, as he got out in 14th over. 101/4 in 15 overs, they managed to score 63 in last 5 overs, to reach 163/5 ! Warner played gem of an innings, staying right till the end, not out on 51(25). Kedar Jadhav supported him brilliantly. Kedar scored 25(19) before getting out in last over. PWI needed 165 runs to win the match!

                        Irfan Pathan with the ball, gave DD perfect start, bowling a maiden over. PWI came back well. Openers were scoring, 7-8 runs per over. At midway, PWI were 75/0! Irfan Pathan dismissed both the openers in the 11th over, though Finch was victim of bad umpiring. Uthappa-37(33) and Finch 37(33), two well set batsmen got out. Yuvraj and Luke Wright were looking good, but Wright was scoring very slowly. 37 required of last 3 overs, with 8 wickets in hand, Umesh Yadav bowled excellent 18th over. He first dimissed struggling Luke Wright[19(18)] and then Yuvraj[31(24)]. With 35 required from last 2 overs, Nehra gave away only 7. Steve Smith and Manhas could score only 12 runs, in the last over, bowled by Nadeem, as DD registered their 2nd victory, winning by 15 runs!!

My Views-  

                          PWI's death bowling worry, continued in this match. Dinda, isn't at all learning from his past mistakes. He has a good yorker, but instead he tries slow balls and length balls, in the death! Kane Richardson, who was playing his 1st game in IPL, bowled lots of short balls to Warner in death, and went for plenty. Warner played a good innings. Batting down the order, he not only steadied the ship but also scored quickly!!
                  Chasing, openers of PWI gave their team a solid start. But that was a slow start in context of the match. They never tried to up the anti. And I don't understand, player like Steve Smith who is in great touch, is batting at no.5. He should have come up the order, instead of Luke Wright. DD and PWI swopped their places, PWI going bottom, DD going up by one place!   

Highlights Of Match in Photos---

Toss- New Stadium in Raipur

Kedar Jadhav and Warner shared a good partnership in death overs

Irfan Pathan picked up 2 wickets in 11th over

Yuvraj Singh looked good

Umesh Yadav dismissed 2 set batsmen in 18th over

Warner was declared Man Of The Match for hi 51(25)

Match-38, CSK vs KKR, M.A.Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

MATCH-38

CSK VS KKR

Venue- M.A.Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
Match Officials- A.Dar, S. Taufel, C.Shamsuddin(Umpires),                             A. Pycroft(Refree)    

Toss-  KKR won the toss and chose to field first!

Result- CSK won by 14 runs!

Man Of The Match- MICHAEL HUSSEY

Match Report-

                  It was an afternoon match, starting at 4 o'clock! And in Chennai's heat it was a surprising decision, to field first, by Gambhir. New opening partner for Hussey was Wriddhiman Saha! He got a chance as Viajy was injured during practice. Both the openers, batted brilliantly, making full use of the opportunity given to them! They shared opening stand of 103 in 10.1 overs. Michael Hussey was in supreme touch while Wriddhiman Saha supported him pretty well. Saha who made 39(23) got out in 11th over. With Raina, Hussey shared another good partnership of 53 runs. Michael Hussey who played very well for his 95 got out in 16th over. Michael Hussey 95(59) was amazing considering the heat of Chennai! In last 4 overs, Raina, Dhoni and Jadeja scored 42 runs. Raina got out on 44(25) while Dhoni was not out on 18(10)! CSK reached 200/3 in their 20 overs.

                        Gambhir and Bisla came out to open the batting for KKR. Dirk Nannes who was making his come back after his injury, was wayward in his 1st over. He conceded 18 runs, 12 of them were extras! In 3rd over, trying to hit Morris for the third boundary in a row, Gambhir was bowled! And there came the Kiwi, Brendon McCullum!!! He couldn't last longer, as he dropped on a ball from Mohit Sharma, back on to his stumps on the last ball of the 6th over. KKR were, 63/2 after 6! Ashwin slowed down the things a little. But in 10th and 11th over, Bisla and Kallis hit a six each, to ensure, the required run rate doesn't climb up too high. In the 13th over, Bravo got rid of Kallis[19(18)]! Bisla continued to fire from other end. He was playing very well, and for his support there was one of the best finisher of the game, Eoin Morgan. KKR required 50 runs in last 3 overs. Nannes who bowled the 18th over conceded 21. 29 from 12 balls, was a game on situation, especially because Morgan and Bisla were batting! Morgan started off the Bravo over well, as he hit a four on the first ball. On third ball, Bisla trying to steal a single, was run out by Hussey! Tired legs of Bisla, couldn't made his ground! Manwinder Bisla played a good inning of 92(61)!!! 23 required off 9 balls, Bravo conceded only 4 in 3 balls. Morris had 19 runs to defend in last over. He bowled perfect yorkers, and Morgan and Yusuf Pathan could do nothing! Chris Morris conceded only 4 runs in the last over, to ensure a victory for CSK by 14 runs!

My Views-  

                          Hussey continued his classic but aggressive  bating display once again! In the heat, his stay was crucial. He scored quick and big runs! The heat was taking the juices away from M.Hussey, so without wasting the balls, to get to his century, he went for a big shot and lost his wicket. I have never seen such a selfless cricketer so far! Saha, Raina and Dhoni did their job as well!
                      In bowling CSK were offbit, as Nannes couldn't give his 100%! But all the other bowlers bowled well! Morris was brilliant with his yorkers in the last over. 
Manwinder Bisla again played a gem of a inning, but could saw his team through! Yusuf Pathan's bad patch continued in this match as well! 

Highlights Of Match in Photos---

Look at the heat in Chennai!

Narine look hopelessly as Saha and Hussey kept piling the runs

Man Of The Match- M.Hussey for hi 95(59)

M.Bisla tried his best

The Moment, when Bisla was run out by Hussey

Morris Celebrates after conceding just 4 in last over

Match-37, MI vs RCB, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

MATCH-37

MI VS RCB

Venue- Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Match Officials- A. Rauf, S.Asnani, A.Choudhary(Umpires),                             J.Srinath(Referee)    

Toss-  MI won the toss and chose to Bat first!

Result- MI won by 58 runs!

Man Of The Match- DWAYNE SMITH

Match Report-

                  RCB, after thrashing PWI were very high on confidence, ready to take on the mighty Mumbai Indians! MI won the toss and chose to bat first, as Kohli(RCB) wanted to field first anyway! Tendulkar and Smith came to open the batting for MI! After a steady start, 12/0 in 2 overs, Sachin hit 4 fours in an over (3rd of the inning) of Rampaul! R.P.Singh though was bowling well from the other end. Sachin struggled against him, as he was trapped leg before by R.P in 4th over. Smith and Karthik kept the momentum going. After 10 overs, MI were well placed at 97/1! But first ball of the second half of the first inning, produced a wicket for Syed Mohmmad, who dismissed Smith[50(36)]. Rohit Sharma was run out, due to misunderstanding between him and Karthik! Pollard came and played his natural game! In 17th over, RP Singh conceded 17 runs! But 18th over was brilliant for RCB! First of all, Karthik[43(33)] was run out by Kohli and on the very next ball, Rayudu was run out as well, Kohli was the fielder again! After that Pollard[34(16)] got out caught by Rampaul, on the bowling of Vinay Kumar. MI lost 3 wickets and scored only 2 runs from the 18th! But Bhajji and Johnson made 24 runs in last 2 overs. MI scored 194/7 in their 20 overs.

                        It was going to be a great chase, as Chris Gayle was in form of his life! Johnson and Malinga kept it back-of-length attack against Gayle! Gayle struggled to get going. Although he hit a six against Johnson, still his strike rate was below 100. First change Dhawal Kulkarni, got the wicket of Dilshan in 6th over. After powerplay RCB were 35/1. Harbhajan Singh was brought into attack in 7th over. It paid off straightaway. On the 2nd ball, Gayle tried to take him on, only for Rayudu to take a good catch on the boundary line! So Gayle storm roared, before the start of the match, only!! AB de Villiers and Kohli were fformidable players, still on the crease! Dhawal Kulkarni, dismissed them both in 8th over, to corner RCB, with their "fab 4" back in pavilion! All the middle and lower-middle order players struggled, to achieve the target! Vinay Kumar [26(20)] and Ravi Rampaul [23(18)] remained not out and scored 26 runs in last 2 overs, to entertain the crowd! RCB 136/7 in 20 overs, lost the match by 58 runs!

My Views-  

                          Mumbai crowd were shouting "cheater cheater" at Virat Kohli, when Ambati Rayudu was runout. Rayudu's bat was pushed by Vinay Kumar's leg, as Kohli hit the stumps and appealed for Run Out, which was given out. Vinay Kumar's pushing of bat was totally UNINTENTIONALLY done, so there was no point, for Mumbai crowd to call Kohli a cheater. But what was more disappointing is that, Kohli was upset because of the crowd! He said, "They Forgot That I Play for India, as well!" Mumbai crowd was wrong, no doubt! But if Kohli really feels upset with the crowd, then he should also think that when he abuses someone, how will the player who he has abused will be feeling? RP Singh bowled a no ball against CSK, and Kohli was furious at him, started abusing him, but he should also know that no one does a mistake intentionally, they play for their respective team, to win the game! So if he feels upset about the crowd's reaction, he should stop abusing anyone from now on, otherwise he has no right to be upset with the Mumbai Crowd!
                  

Highlights Of Match in Photos---

Man Of The Match- Smith[50(36)]

Pollard playing a little cameo

RCB celebrate run out of Karthik

Bhajji got the big man
Gayle Dismissed Early

Dhawal Kulkarni picked up 3 big wickets of
Kohli, Dilshan, de Villiers

Kohli was upset with the crowd