Mohali v Delhi *Online Score*  Updated Every 5 Mins

 

Delhi

Batsman	Status	Runs	Balls	4's	6's
Gautam Gambhir	c Yuvraj Singh b VRV Singh	18	14	3	0
Virender Sehwag (C)	lbw b Irfan Pathan	6	6	1	0
Shikhar Dhawan	c Kumar Sangakkara b Brett Lee	0	3	0	0
Shoaib Malik	c Brett Lee b VRV Singh	19	17	3	0
Manoj Tiwary	Not Out	29	29	4	0
Dinesh Karthik (W)	b Yuvraj Singh	24	14	2	1
Rajat Bhatia	On Strike	15	12	1	1
Farveez Maharoof
Mohammad Asif
Yo Mahesh
Glenn McGrath

Total: 121 for 5 in 15.5 overs    Run Rate:    7.64   Extras :  10 (b - 0, w - 5, nb - 0, lb - 5, Penalty - 0)

Fall of wickets:1/11 (Virender Sehwag 1.4 ov.), 2/12 (Shikhar Dhawan 2.3 ov.), 3/45 (Gautam Gambhir 6 ov.), 4/54 (Shoaib Malik 7.1 ov.), 5/88 (Dinesh Karthik 12 ov.)

Bowlers	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Wides	Noballs
Brett Lee	3	0	20	1	0	0
Irfan Pathan	2	0	14	1	2	0
Sreesanth*	1.5	0	24	0	0	0
VRV Singh	3	0	18	2	0	0
Piyush Chawla	4	0	29	0	1	0
Yuvraj Singh	2	0	11	1	1	0

With stand-in captain Harbhajan Singh in fresh controversy and a big question mark still there on Sachin Tendulkar's availability, winless Mumbai Indians will be under tremendous pressure against Deccan Chargers of Hyderabad in a battle for survival in the Indian Premier League today.

 

While the hosts were already struggling to open their account after three matches in the Twenty20 extravaganza in the absence of regular captain Tendulkar, who is nursing a groin injury, Harbhajan Singh added to their agony as he allegedly slapped rival pacer S. Sreesanth immediately after their match against Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on Friday.

 

In batting, the Mumbai top-order, with Sanath Jayasuriya heading it, has not fired in unison and this has resulted in the team's bottom order trying to salvage the situation, but to no avail.

 

The bowlers too have not come up to scratch with only Shaun Pollock, to some extent, and the under-scrutiny Harbhajan looking capable of stemming the run-glut from the opposition ranks.

 

With Deccan chargers also not able to win a point still, both the teams would be eager to put it across one another and kick-start their tepid campaign under lights at the state-of-the-art stadium in the satellite township of Navi Mumbai, just across the harbour.

 

Hyderabad are struggling to gel as a team with retired Australian great Adam Gilchrist yet to provide value for the huge amount of money invested in him by team owners Deccan Chronicle.

 

Captain V.V.S. Laxman has also not yet shown that the national selectors were wrong in repeatedly ignoring his claims in the shorter forms of the game. — PTI

 

Hyderabad Deccan Chargers (Probable): V.V.S. Laxman (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Shahid Afridi, Chaminda Vaas, Hershelle Gibbs, Scott Styris, R.P. Singh, Rohit Sharma, Sanjay Bangar, Arjun Yadav, D. Kalyankrishna, Pragyan Ojha, Chamara Silva, Nuwan Zoysa.

 

Mumbai Indians (Probable):  Sachin Tendulkar, Shaun Pollock, Sanath Jayasuriya, Dwayne Bravo, Luke Ronchi, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Robin Uttappa, Saurabh Tiwary, Loots Bosman, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mussavir Khote, Ashwell Prince, Ajinkya Rahane.

          

 

Still in a state of shock after being punched by one of his Indian team mates, Kerala pacer S Sreesanth said he has no bitter feeling towards Harbhajan Singh and he has forgiven the volatile off-spinner. The spunky Kerala speedster said he had actually gone to shake hands with Harbhajan after Friday's Indian Premier League match between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians when the temperamental off-spinner hit him. "Bhajji is like an elder brother and I have forgiven him," Sreesanth said in an interview to Asianet channel. "I went to shake hands with him after the play was over but I did not expect such kind of response. It was not just a slap but something like a punch," he said.

 

And still, Sreesanth claimed, he does not hold any ill feeling towards Harbhajan. "I have to forget it. Whatever happened is over. I'm not the kind of a guy who would nurse grudges. Of course I was hurt...It was totally unexpected and I have nothing more to say," Sreesanth said. He said Harbhajan was not in the best of his moods after the Mumbai side he was leading crashed to their third successive defeat in the IPL. But still his behaviour stunned him.

 

"Mumbai had lost three matches in a row and Bhajji was very angry. Still it was unbelievable." Sreesanth will appear in tomorrow's disciplinary hearing in Delhi where Match Referee Farokh Engineer would hear both the sides before announcing his verdict. Sreesanth said he was trying to concentrate on his game. "I have to continue playing and concentrate on my game," he said.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) cheerleaders are set for a makeover and are planning to "cover up" following the furor their skimpy outfits created among the country's politicians. The cheerleaders, dubbed by the politicians as too "wild" for the families who come to watch the IPL matches, have decided to change their clothes for the jigs that mark sixes and boundaries during the matches.

 

"We don't want to offend anybody. I think it's a small minority view (about them being too wild). But we will take it on board and address what we are wearing. So we have got a new costume to show off," said the head of Deccan Chargers' cheerleading squad. Another cheerleader said the fans have been appreciative of their work so far and she was a bit surprised at their clothes becoming headlines in the country. "We didn't expect to be on front page of the papers here," quipped one cheerleader. "The fans seem to really enjoy our act but I am OK with any changes in our clothes. We will wear what our management tells us to wear. If they want us to be covered up, we are more than happy to do that," said another.

 

Asked whether they have faced any snide remarks while performing, a cheerleader said there have been a few incidents but brushed them aside as occupational hazards. "The crowds have been good to us but there are always an odd person who may react in a different way. But India has been like just another country in this world," said a girl. Every IPL team has a cheerleading squad and most of them have been brought in from abroad.

Video footage in Monday's crucial disciplinary hearing is certain to go against Harbhajan Singh, who allegedly punched S Sreesanth, with IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi today disclosing that the camera did "pick up something". "Yes, cameras were rolling. We have this thing of camera rolling out for 10 minutes even after the match. Yes, it did pick up something," Modi told NDTV.

 

Harbhajan continues to be in the headlines for all the wrong reasons and last time he featured in the Sydney racism row that involved Andrew Symonds, the BCCI had to employ all its energy to save him. Modi, however, did not find the slapping row involving the volatile spinner an embarrassment for the Board. Not ready to equate both incidents, Modi said, "I think you can't muddle both things. There it was one player against another. Here Harbhajan is not saying he has not done anything. He's saying he has been provoked. "See, even (Manchester duo Wayne) Rooney and (Cristian) Ronaldo had difference when they played for their respective countries," he argued.

 

Modi even went on to derive something positive out of the slapping row. "It's important to understand that here (at IPL), players play for the team not just for the sake of it. It just goes to show that they take it to heart and want to win. "However, they have pledged the MCC Spirit of Cricket and you can't assault another player. You just can't cross the line," he added.

South African all-rounder Shaun Pollock was today named captain of Mumbai Indians following Harbhajan Singh's suspension from Indian Premier League matches for slapping pacer S Sreesanth. 

 

Pollock, a former South African captain will lead the team till Sachin Tendulkar recovers from a groin injury. Harbhajan, who was the stand-in captain in the absence of Tendulkar, was temporarily suspended from IPL matches for slapping Sreesanth after Mumbai Indians had crashed to their third successive defeat in the Twenty20 league in Mohali on Friday.

 

The Cricket Board, under whose jurisdiction the IPL functions as a sub-committee, had already slapped a show-cause notice on the off-spinner asking him to explain his conduct by Monday. Harbhajan will also appear before Match Referee Farokh Engineer for a disciplinary hearing in Delhi on Monday.

 day after claiming that it was "more than just a slap" by Harbhajan Singh that reduced him to tears, pacer S Sreesanth today said he was trying to keep the memories of the "slugfest" out of his mind and focus on his game. "I am yet to read the newspapers and at the moment I am only concentrating on my game," Sreesanth said hours before his team Kings XI Punjab's Indian Premier League match against Delhi Daredevils in Mohali.

 

Just after the "ugly" incident, Sreesanth tried to play down the alleged slapping of him by Harbhajan in an IPL match on Friday, but the Kerala pacer later did a volte-face and had claimed that the Mumbai Indians' stand-in captain had indulged in a slugfest with him. The provocation, reportedly, was Sreesanth saying "hard luck" to Harbhajan after Kings XI beat the Mumbai team. "It was more than a slap, it was like a slugfest. I never expected this reaction from him, I was very surprised," he had told Asianet News last night.

 

Harbhajan now faces a disciplinary hearing in New Delhi tomorrow and if found guilty, the temperamental tweaker could face a minimum ban of five Tests or 10 ODIs

The Mumbai Indians today regretted the controversy surrounding their suspended stand-in captain Harbhajan Singh and said they are optimistic that the row would be resolved amicably after tomorrow's hearing in the case.

 

Reacting to Harbhajan's temporary suspension after he had allegedly slapped Kings XI Punjab player S Sreesanth, an unnamed official of the Mumbai Indians, while terming the incident at Mohali two nights ago as unfortunate, said they were confident that the issue would be sorted out soon. "The incident involving Harbhajan Singh and S Sreesanth of the Punjab King's XI was most unfortunate. The Governing Council has set up an adjudication panel to inquire into the incident. The Mumbai Indians are confident that the decision taken by the panel will be in the best interests of cricket and the DLF Indian Premier League," he said in a statement. "The Mumbai Indians are hopeful that the Harbhajan Singh issue will be resolved amicably," he added.

 

The IPL swung into action late yesterday and suspended Harbhajan, who allegedly slapped Sreesanth after the Mumbai Indians had crashed to their third successive defeat in the Twenty20 league at Mohali. The Cricket Board, under whose overall jurisdiction the IPL functions as a sub-committee, had already slapped a show-cause notice on the off-spinner asking him to explain his conduct at Mohali.

 

IPL commissioner and Chairman Lalit Modi later suspended the bowler and also decided that a panel, headed by match referee Farokh Engineer, would meet both parties at a formal hearing in Delhi before deciding on future course of action. If found guilty, Harbhajan faces a suspension of five Tests or 10 ODIs, as per the Code of Conduct of the International Cricket Council that is being followed by the IPL Governing Council, or even a life ban.

 

Harbhajan led the Mumbai Indians team in the first three ties in the absence of regular captain Sachin Tendulkar who is struggling to get fit following a groin injury sustained in Australia which got aggravated during the first home Test against South Africa at the end of last month.

One big reason for the good performance of Kolkata Knight Riders has been the contribution by overseas players. A number of Australian players have done well in the tournament and David Hussey is one of them. Hussey spoke to Iplnewsonline…..

 

How has the experience of playing in Knight Riders been so far?

 

Our team has been doing good right from the beginning. Yeah, the absence of Shoaib Akthar has made the pace attack a little weak but Ishant and Ashok Dinda have bowled very well. The batsmen too have made big scores and helped us make points and remain on top. We have all worked very hard.

 

How is the mood in the team?

 

The mood is always very pleasant. It's been a very different experience of playing for the Knight Riders. Shahrukh comes and prepares the team before every match and motivates all of us, even though we don't understand what he says but he brings a lot of energy to the team. Whereas in the dressing room and on the field it's Sourav who takes control, puts in life and motivates us. It's been learning at every step and that's why the team is doing so well.

 

You are playing with two captains…

 

Our team members are very lucky that they are playing with two of the most successful international captains. Sourav is excellent it strategizing and Ponting can execute the strategy very well. They both have gelled very well until now and this is helping the team a lot.  

 

How is the team balance since the new players have joined?

 

It’s great. After Mohammed Hanif and Umar Gul joined the team, our team has become even more balanced. The way Hanif bowled in the last match was splendid; he has a great thinking capacity. He hasn't shown the same stuff in his batting till now but we expect him to, very soon.

The IPL atmosphere did change post the slapping issue during the Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings XI match on April 25. The superb win registered by Punjab Kings XI was buried deep down the whole slapping episode. The media is also giving undue attention to the issue. If you look at it from a different angle then the line was crossed by both the players – Sreesanth crossed the five yard line while Bhajji crossed the ten yard line. And yes Sreesanth got all the sympathy for crying on the ground. But it is important to know that both were equally involved in it.

 

When the senior players of Mumbai Indians were contacted then there were so many things that came to the fore. Sreesanth was warned before the match. He was told that there are many youngsters playing in Mumbai Indians so he should play safe and control his anger. The young guns of Mumbai Indians were told that Sreesanth has a habit of provoking so should not be paid much attention. He should be told just this: “If you don’t behave, I’ll complain to Sachin or Bhajji.”

 

This preparation worked to some extent. Sreesanth couldn’t get a wicket in his first spell and was hit all over. With a habit of losing patience, Sreesanth started getting aggressive. When he came to bowl in the second spell, he got the wicket of Khote. Sreesanth has a habit of saying things to the batsman he sends back to the pavilion. As expected he said something nasty to Khote.. 

 

After the match, when both the teams were shaking hands with each other Sreesanth met Bhajji. Bhajji twisted Sreesanth’s ears for behaving in an appropriate manner. Sreesanth did not respect a senior player like Bhajji and used nasty language for him also. Seeing this Bhajji lost his cool and with his hands he asked Sreesanth to go away. Unfortunately the hand hit Sreesanth below his eyes. He thought that Bhajji wanted to slap him on his temple. Sreesanth couldn’t tolerate this misbehavior and started howling. Standing next to him V R V Singh didn’t know how to stop Sreesanth. He hugged Sreesanth and the TV cameras starting covering it. The whole world then only saw Sreesanth’s tears.

 

Good that Punjab Cricket Association president Bindra took Bhajji to Punjab Kings XI dressing room where Bhajji hugged Sreesanth and made him understand the reality and said sorry too. But till this moment the words were out. During the post match press conference, Bhajji refused to comment but Yuvraj said Bhajji’s behavior wasn’t appropriate.  On this issue one reporter asked Yuvraj five questions due to which Yuvraj lost his patience. He asked the reporter will you ask me something about the match, the reporter replied that this is the most important thing that happened today. TV channels were only concerned about why Bhajji made Sreesanth cry?

 

The accident at Mohali has been unnecessarily blown out of proportion by the media. But the question that needs immediate attention is when will Sreesanth get over his childish behavior? Why does he have to make faces or be nasty when he gets a wicket?  If he can’t stop sledging then he should be prepared to face anything that happens on or off the field. In this case, if Bhajji is responsible so is Sreesanth. As it is Bhajji is struggling to come out of his bad guy image, this incident had further dampened it. This accident has put a black spot on the otherwise colorful event.

With stand-in captain Harbhajan Singh in fresh controversy and a big question mark still there on Sachin Tendulkar's availability, winless Mumbai Indians will be under tremendous pressure against Deccan Chargers of Hyderabad in a battle for survival in the Indian Premier League today.

 

While the hosts were already struggling to open their account after three matches in the Twenty20 extravaganza in the absence of regular captain Tendulkar, who is nursing a groin injury, Harbhajan Singh added to their agony as he allegedly slapped rival pacer S. Sreesanth immediately after their match against Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on Friday.

 

In batting, the Mumbai top-order, with Sanath Jayasuriya heading it, has not fired in unison and this has resulted in the team's bottom order trying to salvage the situation, but to no avail.

 

The bowlers too have not come up to scratch with only Shaun Pollock, to some extent, and the under-scrutiny Harbhajan looking capable of stemming the run-glut from the opposition ranks.

 

With Deccan chargers also not able to win a point still, both the teams would be eager to put it across one another and kick-start their tepid campaign under lights at the state-of-the-art stadium in the satellite township of Navi Mumbai, just across the harbour.

 

Hyderabad are struggling to gel as a team with retired Australian great Adam Gilchrist yet to provide value for the huge amount of money invested in him by team owners Deccan Chronicle.

 

Captain V.V.S. Laxman has also not yet shown that the national selectors were wrong in repeatedly ignoring his claims in the shorter forms of the game. — PTI

 

Hyderabad Deccan Chargers (Probable): V.V.S. Laxman (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Shahid Afridi, Chaminda Vaas, Hershelle Gibbs, Scott Styris, R.P. Singh, Rohit Sharma, Sanjay Bangar, Arjun Yadav, D. Kalyankrishna, Pragyan Ojha, Chamara Silva, Nuwan Zoysa.

 

Mumbai Indians (Probable):  Sachin Tendulkar, Shaun Pollock, Sanath Jayasuriya, Dwayne Bravo, Luke Ronchi, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Robin Uttappa, Saurabh Tiwary, Loots Bosman, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mussavir Khote, Ashwell Prince, Ajinkya Rahane.

Chennai continued its winning streak on Saturday while Kolkata Knight Riders tasted defeat. After dismissing Kolkata for 148, the Super Kings coasted to 152 for the loss of one wicket for a 9-wicket win with 18 balls to spare.

 

When Sourav Ganguly, the Kolkata Knight Riders˘ captain, won the toss and elected to bat first, he must have had a target of 200 in his mind, considering players like McCullum and Ponting in his batting line up. He wasn˘t wrong. Kolkata made 24 in first two overs. But then man of the match Jacob Oram got rid of the dangerous McCullum (24) on the third ball of the third over, and sent Ponting back to pavilion for a duck in the next ball, and the Knight Riders could never recover. 

 

Wickets kept falling at regular intervals. Saha (27), Hussey (0), and Ganguly (12) left in quick succession. The score after the 11^th over was 75/5. Laxmi Ratan Shukla (42), the top scorer for Knight Riders, was the only saving grace in the team˘s inning.  In the end, the team could score only 147 for the loss of nine wickets leaving Chennai Super Kings licking their lips.

 

Dhoni-led Chennai was in command from the word go. Openers Hayden (70*) and Parthiv (21) executed their plans magnificently. They hit boundaries on slow balls, managed the off sixes, and didn˘t refrain from taking singles and twos. Hayden hit a superb six off Hussey to complete 50 runs for his team in the 7^th over and there was no looking back after that. Their partnership of 66 became the best opening partnership of the IPL.

 

When Parthiv departed in the ninth, caught by Sharma off Agarkar, the team˘s score read 66-1. This brought in Dhoni, who came out swinging. He swashbuckling 43 runs came in 27 balls and included three fours and two sixes. Chennai won easily with three overs to spare.

 

While Chennai bowling was tight, Kolkata bowling was pedestrian. Perhaps they were missing their lucky mascot Shahruck Khan, who wasn't present for the match. Kolkata gave away 18 runs as extras. Ishant Sharma was punished the hardest; 18 runs scored in his 3^rd over.

 

With this win Chennai Super Kings tops the point table with six points after the highest number of wins.

The talented Hyderabad Deccan chargers had to face their third defeat in a row when Shane Warne smashed the last-but-one ball for a SIX. The entire team must be scratching their heads figuring out how they lost even after Symonds scored the fastest hundred so far in the IPL tournament. I’ve been watching the matches, and I can’t find anything really wrong with the team or its strategy. But if I had to nitpick, I’d say the big-name batting lineup is somewhat shaken. Gilchrist, Laxman and Afridi (and before this match Symonds too) have all failed to get big scores. They’re coming in and scoring quick 10s and 20s, but that is not enough. The bowling department has done OK too, but no one bowler has impressed the way Warne or McGrath have done for their respective teams. And I think that is the key to why they’re loosing. All the players are doing OK, but not great. Twenty20 is not a game of mediocre cricketers. It would be a mistake for the Hyderabad Deccan Chargers to go to the dressing room after the match and try to see “where they went wrongâ€. That is the wrong question to ask. They should be asking “Why can’t we do great things instead of OK OK?â€.

In a major development over the raging debate on the cheerleaders in DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) matches, Navi Mumbai Police chief have refused to ban them. The Police official said that no cheerleader can be arrested. However, he made it clear that the organisers will be booked if the cheerleaders are obscenely dressed. The Navi Mumbai police chief also said that the dancers will not be allowed to perform in 'obscene dress'. On Thursday, the Maharashtra government had said that it was considering a ban on cheerleaders in the DLF IPL matches in Mumbai. However Organisers will have to face music if cheerleaders` found vulgar. "The girls are merely artistes who perform as per the instructions of organisers," said Mr Wagh

The clamour for ban on skimpily-clad cheerleaders in IPL cricket matches spread to West Bengal on Friday after Maharashtra set the tone while they have been allowed to perform in Mumbai if there is no vulgar display. With he US-style cheergirls coming under the scanner for any obscenity they however had something to cheer when Union Information and Broadcasting minister PR Dasmunshi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh played down the raging controversy over their shows. Deshmukh said the matter is being blown out of proportion. Police said the dancing beauties will not be banned in Mumbai but cannot wear obscene dress and warned of action against the organisers if their shows are found to be vulgar. Any wardrobe malfunction will be also death with

Bangalore: A fine all-round display by Shane Watson, who scored an unbeaten half-century after ensnaring two crucial wickets with the new ball, led the Rajasthan Royals to their third straight win in the IPL.

The Bangalore Royal Challengers were at the receiving end this time, succumbing to a seven wicket defeat at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Saturday.

The one thing that stood out was intensity, which the home team failed to match with that of a young Jaipur brigade.

Watson (61 not out, 41 balls, 8x4, 2x6) and Graeme Smith (49, 42 balls, 8x4) finished off the job half-done by their bowlers.

The visiting bowlers made most of the favourable conditions, after skipper-cum-coach Shane Warne elected to bowl first and restricted Challengers to 135/8. The score was overhauled in just 17.1 overs.

The Aussie-Protean duo was cool and composed to start with but hurried through, as they got closer to the target. Watson in particular showed no mercy on the opposition bowlers.

Bangalore's total was largely due to the heroics of Ross Taylor in the earlier part of the innings and Praveen Kumar in the latter. But it was not enough to get them close to their first victory at home.

Royal Challengers lost skipper Rahul Dravid on the second ball of the match and it wasn't a start that the Royal Challengers were looking for. Dravid failed to control a pull shot off Watson and holed to Jadeja. This meant that the former Indian skipper's woeful run at his home stadium continued.

But this had little impact on Ross Taylor, who took control of the proceedings. The well-built Kiwi cut loose immediately after arriving in the middle. Taylor was in impetuous touch as he clobbered two consecutive sixes off Sohail Tanvir.

Jacques Kallis joined the party choosing Watson as his target and smashed three boundaries in one over. He along with Taylor added 43 in just 25 balls.

Just when the duo was looking dangerous, Siddharth Trivedi sent Kallis back to the hut. Taylor looked good for a half-ton, but was cut short by Munaf Patel.

From then on, it was the repeat of the last match as the wickets started to fall in a quick succession. Once the top-half of the batting order was back in the pavilion inside 10 overs, it was a matter of how long the tail will wag. The only positive from the match for the hosts is that they managed to surpass the score of 82 that they had scored against Kolkata Knight Riders.