IPL 2010: Semi-finals line up finalised

INDIAN PREMIER League (IPL) semi-final teams have been decided with last year's winner Deccan Chargers storming into the semi-finals with an 11 run victory against Delhi Daredevils in 55^th IPL 2010 Match at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium on Sunday.

The IPL 3 semi-final line up has Mumbai Indians with 20 points and now Deccan Chargers with 16 points in the top order. Chennai Super Kings with their recent victory against KingsIXI Punjab is the number 3 team while Royal Challengers Bangalore follow them at number 4.

With the teams being finalized, the IPL 3 first semi-final match will be played on 21^st April 2010 between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians. The second semi-final will be played between Chennai Super Kings and Deccan Chargers on 22^nd April.

The venue for the IPL 2010 semi-finals is D.Y Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai amidst recent reports of bomb threats in Bangalore, which lead to shift of the match from Bangalore.

Punjab backs Tendulkar's Mumbai Indians over Kings XI Punjab

Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar who is successfully leading the Mumbai Indians, which is currently topping the Indian Premier League-III (IPL-III), is enjoying full support here clearly overshadowing the local team Kings XI Punjab.
Although some of his fans are anxious about his fitness since during the last match against Chennai Super Kings, Tendulkar had complained of fatigue and dehydration, they are keeping their fingers crossed to see this master in action at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) stadium in Mohali on Friday evening.
Tendulkar, who will turn 37 on April 24, had left the field while batting (during the last match), but came back later when Mumbai Indians were struggling to save the match.
"Obviously Tendulkar is the best cricketer of all times and we really doubt that India could find his replacement in the future. He is like god to us and even our coach shows us recorded tapes of Sachin's match-winning innings to enthuse confidence in us," Sidhartha Sharma (16), a budding cricketer from Patiala town in Punjab, told IANS.
"I wanted to take his autograph and talk to him but I could not catch him at PCA. Therefore, I will go to the team's hotel with my friends and try to meet him," said Sharma.
There were a bunch of young cricketers who were thrilled after bowling with Tendulkar at PCA stadium Thursday evening.
"It was a rare honour for me when I shared nets with Sachin and bowled several overs to him. It was a dream come true for me and even my family members are equally excited. Sachin also talked to us for sometime and gave us many batting tips," said 11-year-old Shubman.
Akhil Jain, another 17-year-old young cricketer, said: "He is so calm and composed on the field. Even at this age he is very agile and his reflexes are better than any other youngster. It was a great learning experience while bowling to him on the nets."
So far, Mumbai Indians have emerged as favourites in the IPL-III after winning seven out of their nine matches. Their Friday's opponents Kings XI Punjab, however, are tottering at last place registering only two wins in their ten outings.
The disappointing performance of Kings XI has disappointed their fans and now many of them are supporting Tendulkar's Mumbai Indians.
"I am a die-hard supporter of Kings XI and I have watched all their IPL matches at PCA. But today I will support Mumbai Indians because they are the genuine favourites of this tournament and they have proved this with their performance," a young cricket enthusiast Subodh Sharma told IANS.
He added: "We are praying that Tendulkar will get fit to play in the match and we want him to score a century today. We also want Bhajji (Harbhajan Singh) to score quick runs and to take early wickets."
Shipra Petkar, an engineering student, told IANS: "Kings XI has totally let us down with their miserable performance. They are already out of this tournament so what is the need to support them? We want the Tendulkar-led Mumbai Indians to win the game. Tendulkar is still our favourite and we all love him very much."

Mumbai Indians thump Kings XI Punjab to stay on top

Lasith Malinga starred with the ball while Shikhar Dhawan shone with the bat as table-toppers Mumbai Indians thumped tournament laggards Kings XI Punjab by four wickets for their sixth win in the Indian Premier League on Tuesday. After Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar had put in the visitors, Malinga captured four wickets, including three in four balls, as the home side restricted Kings XI Punjab for 163.

Barring the notable exception of Shaun Marsh, who struck a brisk 47-ball 57 in his first IPL III match, the Punjab top and middle order batsmen capitulated again as the visitors settled for a below-par total. Subsequently, Shikhar Dhawan (50 off 40 balls) and Saurabh Tiwary (31 off 23) came up with useful knocks as Mumbai cruised to 164 for six in 19.3 overs to consolidate their position atop the points table.

In contrast, it was the sixth defeat of the Punjab side in seven matches. With Dhawan continuing his purple patch in the tournament, Mumbai's chase got off to a flier with the openers raising 42 runs before a hushed silence descended on the Brabourne Stadium when Sachin Tendulkar (11) holed out to Irfan Pathan off Piyush Chawla.

Promoted in the batting order, Kieron Pollard (20 off 13 balls) played a characteristically brisk cameo, that included an effortless hitting of Chawla over long-off ropes. Dhawan at the other end kept going. The left-hander had began with back-to-back fours off Brett Lee and cut and drove with elan. Pollard fell to Irfan Pathan in the 10th over and then Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu (9) and Dwayne Bravo (8) fell in quick succession but Saurabh Tiwary looked unstoppable.

Even his mistimed shots sharted clearing the ropes as Tiwary imposed himself on the Punjab bowlers. Tiwary eventually fell in the penultimate over but Mumbai Indians had no problems completing the formality with three balls to spare. Earlier Malinga (4/22) and Zaheer Khan (3/34) shared seven wickets between them to restrict Kings XI Punjab to 163.

Malinga, who was egged on by the capacity crowd, fired out Irfan Pathan (18) and top-scorer Shaun Marsh (57 in 47 balls) off the fifth and last balls of his third over to be on a hat-trick. Karan Goel, however, prevented the bowler from achieving the feat but was bowled off the second ball in Malinga's fourth and final over. Some late order hitting by Piyush Chawla (22) helped the visitors cross the 160 mark.

Earlier in the innings, Malinga got rid off Manvinder Bisla to break the second wicket partnership with Marsh after Zaheer had given Mumbai a flying start by dismissing in-form opener Ravi Bopara with his second ball. Bopara's early dismissal dealt a big blow for Punjab who came into the tie with five defeats in six matches and were put in to bat by Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar.

Australian Marsh, playing his first match in place of regular captain Kumar Sangakkara who is serving a one-match ban for his bowlers' tardy over-rate in three previous ties, looked in good touch. Starting with a fine leg-glance off Ryan McLaren in the first over, left-handed Marsh then timed a push straight beautifully off Zaheer for a four and then pulled and exquisitely on-drove McLaren for successive boundaries to keep the run-rate high.

Skipper Tendulkar brought in sling-arm pacer Malinga for the fifth over in place of McLaren and the Sri Lankan struck a blow immediately with the dismissal of Bisla (11). The batsman checked a drive off a slower ball and skied to Zaheer at straight mid-off. The 26-year-old Marsh played a superb lofted shot for a straight six on bent knee off Kieron Pollard in the bowler's first over before the strategic break at the end of nine overs brought the home team two quick wickets - those of stand-in captain Mahela Jayawardene and out-of-form Yuvraj Singh.

A terrible mix-up when Malinga misfielded at backward point sent Jayawardene back to the dugout after the duo had added 49 runs in six overs. Yuvraj lasted just three balls before flicking Dwayne Bravo to backward square-leg fielder Harbhajan to leave Punjab at 92 for four in the 12th over. Then Malinga dismissed Irfan Pathan and the well-set Marsh in successive balls in the 16th over to leave the visiting team's innings in tatters at 124 for six. Malinga then bowled a superb yorker to completely beat Marsh to complete his third over on a high note. He came back for his final over to dismiss Goel with another excellent yorker.

DLF IPL 2010 at YouTube: 60 matches in 45 days

DLF IPL 2010 @ YouTube: 60 matches in 45 days: Indian Premiere League season 3 has begun with much fanfare in Mumbai on Friday.
In this 45 days event, a total of 60 matches will be played through -out the event including semifinals and final. The matches will be telecast live at the many television channels.
At the same time, the cricket fans can also catch the live streaming of all the IPL matches at the youtube.com/ipl.
The big event of cricket started in Mumbai with a lavish opening ceremony at the DYP stadium of Mumbai. In the very first match KKR defeats the defending champion DC by 11 runs.
Viewers at the same time can get the SWOT analysis of the teams participating the event with their Strength, weakness, Opportunities and threat which are discussed before the match starts.