VIRENDRA SEHWAG's Career profile

Player Profile
Virender Sehwag
(India)
Full Name: Virender
Sehwag
Born: Oct 20, 1978
Delhi
Current age: 32 years
198 days
Major teams: India,
Asia XI, ICC World XI,
Leicestershire, Delhi,
Rajasthan Cricket
Association President's
XI, India Blue, Delhi
Daredevils
Batting Style: right-
hand bat
Bowling Style: right-
arm offbreak
Test debut: South
Africa v India at
Bloemfontein, Nov
03-06, 2001
Last Test: South
Africa v India at Cape
Town, Jan 02-06, 2011
ODI debut: India v
Pakistan at Mohali, Apr
01, 1999
Last ODI: India v Sri
Lanka at Mumbai, Apr
02, 2011
T20I debut: South
Africa v India at
Johannesburg, Dec 01,
2006
Last T20I: India v Sri
Lanka at Mohali, Dec 12,
2009

Sehwag bom exploded once again ,this time Deccan has destroyed. Take a report-

Delhi Daredevils 179 for
6 (Sehwag 119, Ishant
2-16) beat Deccan
Chargers 175 for 5
(Duminy 55, Sangakkara
44, Agarkar 2-29) by
four wickets
For a large part of his
career, it was tough
being Sachin Tendulkar.
In the IPL, it's tougher
being Virender Sehwag.
After having watched
his bowlers take
wickets off no-balls and
his fielders drop
sitters, the Delhi
Daredevils captain took
his frustration out on
the Deccan Chargers
with a blistering
century, his first in
Twenty20s. The assault
bettered his
masterpiece against
Kochi Tuskers Kerala,
and stunned Deccan
into offering him two
chances. Unmindful of
the complete lack of
support from his team-
mates, Sehwag cashed
in and drowned Deccan
in a flood of boundaries
that took the bite out
of a challenging total.
The next highest score
was James Hopes' 17.
Delhi's bowlers had been
profligate in letting
Deccan surge to 175,
and their top order,
barring Sehwag, let the
pressure get to them.
Aaron Finch, Naman
Ojha and Venugopal Rao
combusted against
seam as Sehwag
watched bemused from
his end. From 25 for 3 in
the sixth over, only
Sehwag could have
taken Delhi home, and
he did it in some style,
moving from 8 off 13
balls to 119 off 56,
pushing Deccan to the
brink of elimination.
Sehwag has made a
career out of sticking
to his guns regardless
of the situation, and his
approach today was no
different. Two balls
after Venugopal Rao
top-edged a pull off
Ishant Sharma, Sehwag
shuffled across and
glanced a boundary
from the middle-stump
line to fine leg. In the
next over, Travis Birt
struggled against Daniel
Christian, getting
beaten three times in
four balls, as the
asking-rate crossed
eleven at by the end of
seven overs.
Sehwag broke free in
the next over, bowled
by IPL debutant Ishan
Malhotra. The first ball
disappeared over deep
square leg, the next
over deep midwicket.
Two more boundaries
followed, as Sehwag
looted 23 off the over.
As if to dispel the notion
that he had targeted
just the newcomer,
Sehwag plundered 13
off the next over, from
Christian.
Sangakkara brought on
spin, so often Sehwag's
strength as well as
weakness. Sehwag
displayed his strength
first ball, dancing down
and launching Amit
Mishra over the
straight boundary. The
weakness was on
display next ball, as he
rushed out again but
ended up slicing to
sweeper cover. That is
when Deccan decided to
return the earlier
favours, substitute
Ankit Sharma clanging a
simple chance. Sehwag
gladly guided the third
ball through third man
for four.
Birt departed in the
11th over, having
contributed four runs
to a partnership of 61
off 28 balls. Sehwag
continued to ignore the
procession at the other
end, dispatching Mishra
for three consecutive
fours. The second of
those boundaries
slipped into the
boundary from Ravi
Teja's grasp, after he
had managed to get
both hands to the
chance.
With 69 needed off 48,
Sangakkara brought
Dale Steyn back. Steyn
dug one in short,
Sehwag got on top of it,
and flashed it past
backward point. A
desperate Sangakkara
turned to Bharat Chipli's
gentle medium pacers.
Mistake. Sehwag
brought up his hundred
off the first ball, and
then creamed the next
two for sixes. Twenty-
seven needed off 30.
Game over. Though
Steyn had Sehwag
caught behind in the
17th over, the
remaining batsmen
managed to complete
the heist.
Victory was looking far
away for Delhi when
they had allowed
Deccan to run amok on
a bouncy pitch.
Sangakkara and Shikhar
Dhawan had chances
grassed, and JP Duminy
and Christian would
have been dismissed
within the space of
three balls, had Yogesh
Nagar not over-stepped
twice in the 15th over.
Two of the four
reprieved batsmen
made Delhi pay dearly.
Sangakkara doubled his
score to make 44, and
Duminy went better,
clattering four sixes on
his way to converting
23 off 18 deliveries into
55 from 31. The no-balls
meant what should
have been 114 for 5 in
the 15th over turned
into 175 for 5 in 20
overs.
Sangakkara's
partnership with
Duminy was a stop-
start affair, with
punchy and edged
boundaries alternating
with swings-and-
misses. More luck was
to come Deccan's way
when Morkel dropped
Sangakkara at short
fine leg off Ajit Agarkar,
and then failed to get
near the ball when
Dhawan top-edged a pull
off the next delivery.
After Dhawan fell,
Sangakkara's
aggression allowed
Duminy to play himself
in before launching into
an onslaught. Duminy,
who had made 77 runs
in five previous games,
hardly looking like the
batsman who had been
struggling for runs. He
added 71 in 33 deliveries
with Christian, as
Deccan made 108 in the
last ten overs. It
counted for little in the
end.
Abhishek Purohit is an
editorial assistant at
ESPNcricinfo

Now ENGLAND have their new One-day and T-20 Captains.

Alastair Cook has been
named England's new
one-day international
captain and Stuart
Broad has been handed
the leadership of the
Twenty20 side in a
major shake-up of the
limited-overs teams.
Andrew Strauss
announced his decision
to stand down as ODI
captain to focus on his
Test career, while Paul
Collingwood's run in the
Twenty20 job is over as
England look to the
future.
It means that England
will have a different
captain for each
format of the game.
Cook has previously led
the team on the tour to
Bangladesh last year
when Strauss was
rested, but for Broad it
is his first captaincy
role at a senior level
and he'll now be at the
helm when England
defend their Twenty20
title in Sri Lanka next
year.
"It has never been tried
before so I am excited
by the opportunity it
provides us with," Andy
Flower, the England
team director said of
the three captains. "We
don't know 100%
whether it will work and
be the most efficient
system but we're going
to give it a try."
On the Bangladesh tour
Cook made scores of
64, 60 and 32 in a 3-0
victory in the ODIs,
before anchoring
England's twin Test wins
with a pair of centuries
at Chittagong and
Dhaka. Despite the
relative paucity of the
opposition, the
challenge he faced in
unfamiliar conditions
was immense, not to
mention the ignominy
he would have faced
had he failed to
complete a clean sweep
of five international
wins out of five.
Despite some doubts
about the speed and
power of Cook's
strokeplay, Strauss's
departure from the
limited-overs scene
creates a vacancy for
an opener who can be
relied upon to bat
through an innings, and
besides, with a powerful
cut and an aggressive
slog-sweep, Cook
himself believes he has
the ability to build on an
ODI record of 858 runs
at 33.00, with one
century against India in
2007.
"I've worked hard on my
limited overs cricket in
recent times - I've
never seen myself as a
Test batsman
exclusively and I know I
have a lot to offer
strategically and as a
top order batsman in
one-day cricket," he
said. "I'm excited by the
challenge of taking our
50-over cricket to new
heights and I believe I
can play an integral role
with the bat as well as
captain.
"I will continue to work
closely with Andrew and
also Stuart as we form
a leadership team
across all forms of the
game. We have the
chance to work
together and share
ideas which will benefit
our cricket in all three
formats."
Collingwood, who
captained England's
Twenty20 side on 30
occasions and oversaw
England's successful
World Twenty20
campaign in 2010,
retired from Test
cricket following the
Ashes earlier this year
but remains available
for the limited-overs
side. Broad will make his
debut as captain when
he leads England's
Twenty20 side against
Sri Lanka in Bristol on
June 25.
"It's a huge privilege to
be named England
Twenty20 captain and
form part of a
leadership team that
I've no doubt will work
well together with a
great deal of synergy,"
Broad said.
"I've always enjoyed
playing the shortest
form of the game and I
relish the opportunity
to develop my
leadership skills as
England's Twenty20
captain. As captain the
chance to work closely
with Andy Flower is an
extremely exciting one
and as current World
Twenty20 champions I
know there is a real
responsibility to
continue the team's
recent success."
Strauss, meanwhile,
has decided that, at the
age of 34 and with four
years to go until the
2015 World Cup, the
time is right to follow
the example of many
leading cricketers of
recent times, and
retire from ODIs to
concentrate on Tests. A
tough home summer
against Sri Lanka and
India is looming, but the
long-term goal is a
repeat of his home and
away Ashes wins, with
the next series coming
back-to-back in
2013-14.
"I've enjoyed my time
as England One-Day
captain immensely and
I'm extremely proud of
the strides we've made
in limited overs cricket
over the past two
years," he said. "We still
have a long way to go if
we're to achieve our
goal of winning ICC global
events and I feel now is
the right time for me
to step aside and
ensure someone else
takes up that challenge.
"Retiring from one-day
cricket will also enable
me to focus solely on
the Test captaincy and
our ongoing
development in the
Test arena as we also
strive to be the top
ranked team in world
cricket.
"I look forward to
working closely with
both Alastair and Stuart
as we work together to
progress England's
development across all
forms of the game.
Both Alastair and Stuart
are proven world-class
cricketers and both
have outstanding
leadership qualities
which will ensure
England's success for
many years to come."

Pakistan Cricket Board want clearence cerficate from Danish kaneria.

The PCB has asked
Danish Kaneria to
produce a 'clearance
certificate' from Essex
if the legspinner is to be
cleared by the board's
integrity committee
and allowed to resume
his international career.
Matters between
Kaneria and the board's
integrity committee
had come to a deadlock
in recent days; the
integrity committee
wanted a transcript of
the police interview
Kaneria gave during
investigations into
spot-fixing in a limited-
overs county game.
Kaneria was arrested
before being released
on bail and eventually
discharged as police
didn't file charges.
Another player, Mervyn
Westfield, is due to face
a trial and should the
judge deem it
necessary, Kaneria can
still be called to court
as part of the case.
Kaneria and his lawyers
insisted that the police
transcripts were not
available as the player's
involvement in the case
was over.
"We had asked for
police transcripts but
were told by Kaneria's
lawyers that they
weren't available,"
Tafazzul Rizvi, the PCB's
legal advisor, told
ESPNcricinfo. "We need
something to judge
what is happening there
and what happened in
the case, however, so
we've now asked for a
clearance certificate
from Essex who were
his employers in the UK
at the time, in a case
which took place in the
UK."
When asked what
content such a
certificate should
include, Rizvi said, "We
just want an idea of
what Essex say about
him and the case. They
were his employers at
the time. Will they
consider him now?"
Kaneria played for
Essex for four seasons
and picked up over 300
first-class wickets, but
his contract was not
renewed after last
year.
"This is an integrity
issue for us," Rizvi said.
"The committee is not
just made up of board
members or
cricketers, it has an ex-
judge of the Supreme
Court on it and in their
opinion, Kaneria had not
satisfied them so he
has not been cleared.
We can't take a risk so
we have asked for this
clearance now."
Kaneria was unavailable
for comment, though
he did confirm that he
had received the
communication from
the PCB. He hasn't
played a Test for
Pakistan since last
summer, even though
he is the country's
leading wicket-taking
spinner. The issue came
to a head last October,
when he was prevented
from travelling to the
UAE to take part in the
Test series against
South Africa at the last
minute by the PCB. He
had initially been picked
for the series.

Outstanding 10 wickets win for WEST INDIES Vs. Pakistan.

West Indies 140 for 0
(Simmons 77*, Edwards
40*) beat Pakistan 139
(Hafeez 55, Rampaul
4-45) by ten wickets
Dead-rubber syndrome
struck with a
vengeance in the fifth
and final ODI at
Providence, as Pakistan
succumbed to a
crushing ten-wicket
victory at the hands of
Lendl Simmons and Kirk
Edwards, who built on a
disciplined bowling
effort on a slow and low
surface to chase down
a moderate target of
140 with more than 26
overs remaining.
Simmons was once
again the star of the
batting display, as he
followed up his vital
half-century in
Barbados with an
unbeaten 77 from 73
balls, while Edwards
played the supporting
role to perfection with
40 not out from 71.
The manner of West
Indies' victory was
every bit as emphatic
as the margin, as they
romped past a
distracted Pakistan
team to record their
second crushing victory
against Test opposition
in the space of two
months, having routed
Bangladesh with more
than 37 overs to spare
during the recent World
Cup. Soon after that
performance, however,
West Indies themselves
were crushed by 10
wickets by Pakistan in
their Dhaka quarter-
final, and so, having
already lost the series
with two games to
spare, there was only a
limited amount of
succour to be had. Still,
a win is a win, and for a
young and remodelled
outfit, it could prove
vital for forging
confidence in the weeks
and months to come.
For Pakistan, only
Mohammad Hafeez
produced a
performance of any
note. He continued his
impressive run of form
with an 83-ball 55, but
the rest of the line-up
succumbed meekly to a
combination of seam
and wrist-spin, as they
were bundled out for
139 in 41.2 overs. Ravi
Rampaul once again
returned the
outstanding analysis of
4 for 45, but it was the
medium-pace of Darren
Sammy, with 3 for 30 in
ten overs, that carved
open the top-order and
laid the foundations for
the win.
Hafeez, who made an
excellent 121 from 138
balls in Pakistan's one-
run D/L defeat in
Barbados earlier in the
week, took advantage
of the chance to bat
first by easing along to
his 12th ODI half-
century, and his fourth
in the last six weeks.
Having launched the
innings with a first-ball
pull for four off
Rampaul, Hafeez added
five more boundaries in
reaching his half-
century from 66 balls,
but his was a lone hand
as his colleagues came
and went.
First to fall was
Taufeeq Umar, back in
the side after sitting
out the fourth ODI. He
made a laboured 3 from
12 balls before snicking
a length ball from
Rampaul through to
Carlton Baugh behind
the stumps.
Ahmed Shehzad proved
to be even less fluent,
as he ground along to 9
from 33 balls, including
a solitary glanced
boundary off the
legspinner Anthony
Martin, who took the
new ball in his second
ODI appearance.
Sammy, however,
double-bluffed him by
calling the keeper up to
the stumps and
immediately sending
down a bouncer.
Shehzad took a wild
swing, but under-edged
the shot onto his
stumps.
At 48 for 2 it was
already proving to be a
one-man show, and
Pakistan's scorecard
got even more lop-sided
when Usman Salahuddin
was nailed lbw on the
sweep by Bishoo for 8,
albeit to a shocker of a
decision as the ball
pitched way outside leg.
One over later, Misbah-
ul-Haq failed for the
second match in
succession, as Sammy
tailed a wicked
inswinger into his back
pad, and this time there
was little doubt about
the lbw.
Umar Akmal, restored
to the team after a
break in Barbados,
reinvigorated the
scoring with a towering
swipe for six over long-
off, but when Hafeez
under-edged a cut onto
his own stumps to hand
Sammy his third wicket,
the innings was in
freefall at 93 for 5.
Umar added one more
boundary in a 27-ball 24
before falling in a
similar fashion,
dragging on to Rampaul
as he attempted a glide
to third man.
Shahid Afridi has found
some tame ways to get
out in recent times, but
he could do nothing
about a brutal lifter
that climbed from
nowhere and flew
through to Baugh, and
three balls later
Rampaul had his fourth
as Wahab Riaz prodded
loosely to slip. The
wicketkeeper
Mohammad Salman
provided some
resistance with an
unbeaten 19 from 30
balls, including a fine
cover drive as Rampaul
over-pitched, but a
brace of Dwayne Bravo
lbws wrapped up the
innings with more than
eight overs to spare.
West Indies' run-chase
was over in a flash.
They eased along to 34
for 0 in six overs
before the mid-match
interval, and though
each man survived a
tough chance behind
the wicket - Edwards on
6 and Simmons on 31 -
the only real
opportunity came when
Edwards was sent back
for a sharp single, only
for an alert Mohammad
Salman to whip off the
bails having noticed
that his bat was over
the crease but still in
the air. The third umpire
decided that there was
too much doubt to give
the decision, and that
was effectively that.

IPL-UPCOMING MATCHES TIME-TABLE

Fixtures

05 MAY 2011 10:30
GMT
Indian Premier League
45th match: KOCHI v
KOLK
Kochi

05 MAY 2011 14:30
GMT
Indian Premier League
46th match: DECC v
DELHI
Hyderabad (Deccan)

06 MAY 2011 14:30
GMT
Indian Premier League
47th match: BLORE v
PNJB
Bangalore

07 MAY 2011 10:30
GMT
Indian Premier League
48th match: KOLK v
CHENN
Kolkata

07 MAY 2011 14:30
GMT
Indian Premier League
49th match: MUMB v
DELHI
Mumbai

08 MAY 2011 10:30
GMT
Indian Premier League
50th match: BLORE v
KOCHI
Bangalore

08 MAY 2011 14:30
GMT
Indian Premier League
51st match: PNJB v
PUNE
Mohali

09 MAY 2011 14:30
GMT
Indian Premier League
52nd match: RTHAN v
CHENN
Jaipur

10 MAY 2011 10:30
GMT
Indian Premier League
53rd match: DECC v
PUNE
Hyderabad (Deccan)

10 MAY 2011 14:30
GMT
Indian Premier League
54th match: PNJB v
MUMB
Mohali

IPL-Chennai vs. Rajasthan match preview

Indian Premier League
43rd match
Chennai
Report
MATCH PREVIEW
Battle of spin-heavy
attacks
The Preview by today-in-cricket
May 03, 2011
Match facts
Wednesday, May 4
Chennai
Start time 1600 (1430
GMT)
The invincibles at home
face off in back-to-
back games over the
next five days. Chennai
go in as favourites for
the first leg, but will not
take things for
granted. The Chepauk
pitch has behaved a lot
like the strip at the
Sawai Man Singh - dry,
slow and with lots of
help for spin. The
afternoon start will
recreate the heat of
Jaipur as well, and
Shane Warne's men
might feel at home
playing here. It will be up
to the gladiatorial
stands at Chepauk, and
the vociferous fans
filling them, to remind
Rajasthan that this is
an away game.
Both sides are on the
ascendancy, and will be
keen to extend their
three-game winning
streaks. The game
could be decided by the
respective spin
attacks. Both teams
have used three-
spinner arsenals to
great effect in this
tournament. Johan
Botha has been flexible,
opening the attack at
times and coming in
late at others - much
like R Ashwin has done
for Chennai. Shane
Warne has rolled the
years back in the
middle overs, while
Ashok Menaria has
surprised everyone
including himself with
his guile. Chennai will
look for the same kind
of impact from Shadab
Jakati and - if he plays -
Suraj Randiv. Both have
been inconsistent so
far this year.
Form guide (most
recent first)
Chennai: WWWLL (fourth
in points table)
Rajasthan: WWWLL
(third in points table)
Team talk
Chennai will review
Randiv's role in the side.
MS Dhoni likes to have
three specialist
spinners in the XI for
home games, but
Randiv has only
managed five wickets
in six games, and has
gone at 7.69 runs per
over. Jakati's figures
are worse, but he has
improved dramatically
in the last three games.
Will Faf du Plessis be in
line for an IPL debut? Or
will Nuwan Kulasekara
get another game?
Stuart Binny has bowled
only three overs and
faced 24 balls in five
games. Warne may
consider benching him
in favour of either a
specialist bowler or a
batsman.
Predict the playing XIs
for this match. Play
ESPNcricinfo Team
selector.
In the spotlight

IPL-Chennai vs. Rajasthan match preview

Indian Premier League
43rd match
Chennai
Report
MATCH PREVIEW
Battle of spin-heavy
attacks
The Preview by today-in-cricket
May 03, 2011
Match facts
Wednesday, May 4
Chennai
Start time 1600 (1430
GMT)
The invincibles at home
face off in back-to-
back games over the
next five days. Chennai
go in as favourites for
the first leg, but will not
take things for
granted. The Chepauk
pitch has behaved a lot
like the strip at the
Sawai Man Singh - dry,
slow and with lots of
help for spin. The
afternoon start will
recreate the heat of
Jaipur as well, and
Shane Warne's men
might feel at home
playing here. It will be up
to the gladiatorial
stands at Chepauk, and
the vociferous fans
filling them, to remind
Rajasthan that this is
an away game.

SACHIN TENDULKAR'S CAREER PROFILE

Full Name: Sachin
Ramesh Tendulkar
Born: Apr 24, 1973
Bombay (now
Mumbai), Maharashtra
Current age: 38 years
10 days
Major teams: India,
Asia XI, Yorkshire,
Mumbai, Mumbai Indians
Nickname: Tendlya,
Little Master
Batting Style: right-
hand bat
Bowling Style: right-
arm offbreak, legbreak
googly
Education:
Sharadashram
Vidyamandir School
Test debut: Pakistan
v India at Karachi, Nov
15-20, 1989
Last Test: South
Africa v India at Cape
Town, Jan 02-06, 2011
ODI debut: Pakistan v
India at Gujranwala, Dec
18, 1989
Last ODI: India v Sri
Lanka at Mumbai, Apr
02, 2011
T20I debut: South
Africa v India at
Johannesburg, Dec 01,
2006
Last T20I: South
Africa v India at
Johannesburg, Dec 01,
2006

ICC TEST ALLROUNDERS RANKINGS

ALLROUNDERS
Name Rating
1. JH Kallis (SA) 451
2. DL Vettori (NZ) 364
3. Shakib Al Hasan
(BAN) 338
4. SR Watson
(AUS) 315
5. SCJ Broad
(ENG) 278
6. GP Swann (ENG) 270
7. DJJ Bravo (WI) 252
8. MG Johnson
(AUS) 243
9. CH Gayle (WI) 230
10. Harbhajan
Singh (IND) 228

ICC TEST BOWLERS RANKINGS:

Name Rating
1. DW Steyn (SA) 899
2. GP Swann (ENG) 793
3. JM Anderson
(ENG) 776
4. M Morkel (SA) 751
5. Zaheer Khan
(IND) 748
6. MG Johnson
(AUS) 727
7. Mohammad
Asif (PAK) 723
8. Harbhajan
Singh (IND) 672
9. Shakib Al Hasan
(BAN) 648
10. Mohammad
Aamer (PAK) 632

ICC Test Players Rankings (Batsman)

Rankings
TEST |
PLAYER |
BATSMEN
Name Rating
1. SR Tendulkar
(IND) 883
2. JH Kallis (SA) 883
3. KC Sangakkara
(SL) 882
4. IJL Trott (ENG) 826
5. AN Cook (ENG) 803
6. V Sehwag (IND) 790
7. DPMD
Jayawardena
(SL) 781
8. S Chanderpaul
(WI) 779
9. VVS Laxman
(IND) 774
10. TT
Samaraweera
(SL) 763

IPL Point Table

IPL Points Table
M- Matches Played; W-
Matches Won; L-
Matches Lost; T- Tied;
Pts- Points; NRR- Net
Run Rate;
League
Teams M W L NR Pts NRR
Kolkata 9 6 3 0 12 0.588
Mumbai 8 6 2 0 12 0.582
Rajasthan 9 5 3 1 11 -0.145
Chennai 8 5 3 0 10 0.247
Bangalore 8 4 3 1 9 -0.052
Kochi 9 4 5 0 8 -0.542
Deccan 9 3 6 0 6 -0.07
Delhi 9 3 6 0 6 -0.262
Punjab 7 3 4 0 6 -0.398
Pune 8 2 6 0 4 -0.089

Deccan Chargers Vs. Kolkata Knight Riders Match Result

IPL-42nd match:
DECC v
KOLK Live
KOLK 169/4
DECC 149/6
(20.0 ov)

Kolkata Knight Riders
won by 20 runs.

Deccan Chargers won the toss ,elected to bowl first.

Toss Deccan Chargers
chose to bowl v Kolkata
Knight Riders
Kumar Sangakkara won
the toss at Deccan
Chargers' jinxed home
ground in Hyderabad,
and chose to bowl
against Kolkata Knight
Riders. Sangakkara
revealed that his
decision had little to do
with the pitch, and that
he was keen on denying
Kolkata the chance to
bat second, given how
well they have chased in
recent games.
Two big South African
players will go head to
head in Uppal. Dale Steyn
came in for Deccan
Chargers, while
Harmeet Singh was
benched. Mark Boucher,
who was in the
commentary box for
the initial part of the
IPL, was drafted into
the Kolkata XI, and will
take over wicket-
keeping duties from
Shreevats Goswami.
Jaidev Unadkat also
returned to the side,
while Ryan ten
Doeschate was left out.
Deccan Chargers: 1
Sunny Sohal, 2 Shikhar
Dhawan, 3 Bharat Chipli,
4 Kumar Sangakkara
(capt & wk), 5 Cameron
White, 6 Bharat Chipli, 7
DB Ravi Teja, 8 Amit
Mishra, 9 Pragyan Ojha,
10 Ishant Sharma, 11
Dale Steyn
Kolkata Knight Riders: 1
Jacques Kallis, 2
Gautam Gambhir (capt),
3 Manoj Tiwary, 4 Yusuf
Pathan, 5 Eoin Morgan,
6 Mark Boucher (wk), 7
Rajat Bhatia, 8 Iqbal
Abdulla, 9 L Balaji, 10
Brett Lee, 11 Jaidev
Unadkat

Saurabh Ganguly has Joined Pune Warriors

Sourav Ganguly, the
former India captain,
has been signed by
Pune Warriors as a
replacement for Ashish
Nehra, who was ruled
out for the remainder
of the 2011 season with
a finger injury.
Ganguly's contract is
for a period of one year
and is an IPL lifeline to
the batsman after he
went unsold at the
player auction in
January, where his
base price was
$400,000.
Ganguly will be vice-
captain to Yuvraj Singh
and is likely to join the
Pune squad ahead of
their match against
Mumbai Indians at the
Wankhede Stadium on
May 4.
"We were waiting for
Ashish Nehra's fitness
report and ultimately
the report came
yesterday," Abhijit
Sarkar, Pune's team
director, told PTI. "I was
already in talks with
Ganguly and we decided
that the amount of
experience that Sourav
has in cricket will no
doubt help the team. So
we finalised Ganguly last
night.
"He is playing in IPL not
for money but to prove
a point. Our team think-
tank felt that Sourav
Ganguly is the best
possible option available
so we went for him. He
has been a fighter and
a master of
comebacks. We are
very much confident
that he will prove his
worth."
Ganguly played for
Kolkata Knight Riders in
the first three seasons
of the IPL and led the
team in two of them,
while Brendon McCullum
was captain for the
other. Kolkata fared
poorly in those years
and are the only
franchise not to make
the semi-finals. Kolkata
did not bid for Ganguly
in January despite his
name coming up for
sale twice, as they
revamped their squad
entirely, and the
batsman later refused
a mentoring role with
the franchise.
Pune Warriors are
bottom of the ten-
team league at
present, having lost six
consecutive matches
after winning their first
two. Ganguly has an
average IPL record -
1031 runs at an
average of 28 and
strike-rate of 110 - and
could strengthen an
under-performing and
short batting order.

Chanderepaul was droped frm WC-2011 Team,when he refused to retire.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul has claimed the West Indies selectors asked him to quit at the conclusion of the World Cup and that he was dropped from the West Indies team when he refused to comply. Chanderpaul's allegation forms part of a letter he's written to WICB chief Ernest Hilaire - the second such communication over the past few days - in which he's sought explanations for various issues that are at the centre of the current controversy in West Indian cricket. The controversy was kicked off by comments made by Hilaire on April 25. Two days later, Chanderpaul reacted to that with a letter addressed to Hilaire seeking a few clarifications. Hilaire responded on April 29 , stating that his comments on cricketers did not name individual players and were based on reports and public comments made by previous coaches. Hilaire also stated that Chanderpaul "has been and remains a valued member of the West Indies first team squad". It was in response to that April 29 letter, that Chanderpaul has once again questioned why he was then dropped for the series against Pakistan. " As far as you are concerned I was dropped from the team not for lack of performance, age, fitness and/or discipline but it is the new direction WICB is going in. What direction is that, when three of the four best batsmen are dropped from the team?" In that letter, also dated April 29 , Chanderpaul also expressed his displeasure with Hilaire's statement that he was acting on the "ill advice" of the West Indies Players Association ( WIPA). Hilaire said, "The WICB has informed Chanderpaul that he has been and remains a valued member of the West Indies first team squad and looks forward to his continued involvement with West Indies cricket," Hilaire wrote. "The WICB expresses disappointment that WIPA appears to be intent using every opportunity to cause disaffection in West Indies cricket and is not averse to offering ill advice to players to achieve this end." Chanderpaul's retort was acerbic: "I may not be Dr Chanderpaul, but I have been a top-ranked international batsman and we have to be able to think critically under the most intense and stressful situations. "It is therefore distressing that you blame WIPA by implication, if not overtly, for my letter saying that WIPA was offering me "ill advice". You may not be aware but I have faced the best bowlers in the world in my career and I know how to counter-attack. Furthermore, I am my own man and would ask that you respect that!" In this latest letter, Chanderpaul also raised several other issues that include claims of faulty injury management by the WICB. - "The treatment towards me after the last Australian tour where, after diving for a ball, I got injured and my treatment from the WICB physio was ineffective. I had to look after myself on my return home, including paying for all my medical expenses. The WI team physio advised that what I required was rest when in fact the doctors decided that I needed to have a cast because of the seriousness of the injury. - "That the WICB selectors asked me to retire and were upset when I refused to do so; - "That one of the selectors further told me that I would need to go to Regional Cricket and do exceptionally well and then they might consider me for future selection, despite me having the 3 rd best average in the recently concluded World Cup for the WI cricket team, of anyone with more than two innings; - "That the Coach said that I did not do anything for the team in the last 12 months and hence the reason for me being dropped."

What will be the behaviour of KOTLA Pitch this time-

If this was a home-and- away tie of the likes one sees in the UEFA Champions League, Delhi Daredevils could relax in the knowledge that they have done the hard work in winning the away leg against Kochi Tuskers Kerala. However, unlike teams like Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings who have maximised home advantage, these two have been subject to mercurial tracks at their grounds, and have resultantly won only once each at home. There have expectedly been no staunch defences of their groundstaffs from Virender Sehwag and Mahela Jayawardene. Jayawardene, in fact, must be glad to get away from Kochi, after having seen his side bowled out twice at the Nehru Stadium - once on a track that must have reminded Ishant Sharma of Perth, and once on a track where Parthiv Patel saw a length ball hit less than halfway up off stump. Sehwag has made it absolutely clear what kind of a pitch he wants: hard and good to bat on. The curator at Feroz Shah Kotla tried to give him that. For the match against Kings XI Punjab , the pitch had more grass than most Indian football grounds do; and Delhi duly scored 231. Since then, however, the inborn slowness of the track has surfaced, and during Delhi's last home game, Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Iqbal Abdulla was turning the ball square. What the Kotla will offer on Monday is anyone's guess. But with both teams desperate for points to keep them alive in the tournament, they would settle for a fair track that gives the sides batting first and second an equal chance. Form guide (most recent first) Delhi : WLLWL (seventh in points table) Kochi : LLLWW (ninth in points table) Team talk Kochi's biggest worry will be that they have been bowled out in all their previous three games. They may decide to give opener Tanmay Srivastava a go, bring back VVS Laxman or even punt on Owais Shah. But the onus eventually lies on Brendon McCullum and Jayawardene himself to repeat the kind of performance they put in against Mumbai . Kochi went in with an all- Indian bowling attack last time around, and will probably look at the pitch before deciding whether to bring in either Muttiah Muralitharan or Thisara Perera. The fourth international player's slot has been an absolute non-performer for Delhi. Aaron Finch, Mathew Wade and Travis Birt have together scored 86 runs from nine innings. Yet, strangely, Colin Ingram and Andrew McDonald have not got a game yet, not even when James Hopes was injured for the last match. Delhi have chopped and changed their bowling attack but may stick with the one that kept Kochi to 119 in the last game. Predict the playing XIs for this match. Play ESPNcricinfo Team selector . In the spotlight Sehwag may have been critical of the low pitch in Kochi, but something about its unpredictable nature seemed to increase his determination, and he went on to play one of the best IPL innings . It is no coincidence that he has played big hands in two of his team's three wins, and he will need to at least give Delhi a decent start if they are to prevail again. Brendon McCullum will always be remembered as the man who scored 158 not out in the inaugural match of the first IPL. But since then, he has disappointed, with only four half-centuries in his next 28 IPL games. He started this season promisingly, but has tailed away since, and his shot selection has been bizarre at times. Given that he is a senior member of the Kochi side, he needs to show more responsibility. Prime numbers Virender Sehwag has the highest strike-rate ( 167.06) in IPLs among players who have scored more than 500 runs over the four editions. The next highest is Yusuf Pathan's 160.08. After having taken one and three scalps respectively on Sunday, Shane Warne and Pragyan Ojha have both come to within one wicket of Kochi's RP Singh's record of 56 wickets in IPLs. The chatter "The Kotla wicket is better than the Kochi one. The ball at least bounces up to knee height. In Twenty20 you need a track which is good to bat on where a team can score around 180 , because that's what the crowd comes to see."

Chennai Super Kings has kept their unbeaten record in home conditions.

Sunny Sohal was like a millionaire spending the last night of his life in Las Vegas, but as it often happens in heist films, the casino owners withstood the brilliant early hand. Sohal's 30- ball 56 , full of extravagant risks, had turned a formidable chase into a regulation one, but Chennai Super Kings waited for the final fatal risk before closing in on the rest to deny them the required 95 off 79 deliveries. It was a night of madness, of silly dropped chances and missed run- outs, of Sohal's extraordinary stroke- play; but the class in the Chennai attack brought the decisive sanity. It was difficult, though, to keep one's wits when Sohal was going. It seemed he could do no wrong, even when he was like a deer in the headlights against bouncers from Doug Bollinger and Albie Morkel. Twice he nearly shut his eyes hoping for the best, twice the ball found some part of the bat to fly over the keeper. Sohal drove it home by making room often and lofting the pace bowlers over cover, and the spinners over long-on, cow corner and midwicket, wherever his arc took them. He hit six fours and four sixes in that spell of play. However, like an amateur gambler, he became too adventurous and tried three reverse- heaves off spin. Two he failed to connect, and the third took the stumps. At 71 for 1 in the seventh over, though, the situation called for sensible batting. MS Dhoni let Shadab Jakati and Suraj Randiv go through a few quiet overs that resulted in Shikhar Dhawan's wicket. Jakati's effort of 2 for 23 allowed Dhoni to hold back his best overs. Bollinger, R Ashwin and Morkel could now bowl the last seven overs between them. Fifty- eight were required off those overs, and Deccan were still slight favourites. Not for long. Morkel started the slide with a short ball that got Bharat Chipli's wicket. Ashwin followed it up with a three-run over. Forty-eight off 30 didn't sound quite that easy now. Kumar Sangakkara was forced to manufacture a flick over fine leg, and Bollinger hit the middle stump. Given the form Cameron White and JP Duminy are in, it was game over right there. And so it was as the duo duly holed out. Deccan's effort in the field was almost a mirror reflection of their chase. On a surface as tired as the whole tournament, they stifled Chennai for the better part of their innings, but fielded poorly and bowled ordinarily at the death to let the hosts off the hook. Hussey enjoyed his fourth life in six IPL innings this year, Suresh Raina discovered two pleasantly surprising chances, and Morkel laid into gentle length balls in the 19 th over to hurt Deccan. White's 13 off 18 wasn't his first mistake of the night. He had dropped a sitter from Hussey. Had he taken that catch, Hussey would have been dismissed for 10 , Pragyan Ojha would have got his second wicket in his first over, and Chennai would have been 19 for 2. As it usually happens - ask Kamran Akmal and friends for more - Hussey went on to make them pay with 36 more. Harmeet Singh then proceeded to let Raina off, and he went from 25 off 21 to 59 off 35 when eventually caught after another life. There was some vengeful slog- sweeping and some leg- side bowling that helped his innings. Morkel, though, provided the exclamation to Deccan's horror effort in the field when he hit Ishant Sharma for three back- to-back sixes. That 21- run over in the end provided Chennai with the buffer to absorb Sohal's onslaught. And Morkel, with 3 for 38 , played a significant part in the second half as well.

Dilshan has to join his team squad in England by , May 11 .

Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sri Lanka's newly-appointed captain, will leave the IPL early and join the national squad in England on May 11 , three days ahead of the first tour game against Middlesex. The decision was reached after negotiations between the BCCI and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) in the last week. "He will be there on May 11 ," Nishantha Ranatunga, the SLC secretary, said, confirming the news. The early departure will mean Dilshan will miss his franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore's last four league matches, as well as the knockouts, if they get that far. He will be available for Bangalore's two home games on May 6 and May 8. His form in the IPL so far has been poor; he has scored only 120 runs in seven innings at a strike- rate of 103.44. The development was positive as far as Dilshan was concerned after he had expressed a strong desire to arrive in England early for his first assignment as Test captain. Dilshan wanted to spend time with the rest of the squad, as well as the new coach Stuart Law, appointed in an interim position for the England tour after Trevor Bayliss' contract came to an end with the World Cup. Five Sri Lanka players will stay on in the IPL and miss the Middlesex game. The board called in Farveez Maharoof and wicketkeeper Kaushal Silva to provide cover for them. Nuwan Pradeep, the fast bowler who has not yet played for Bangalore in the IPL, is also expected to arrive early in England.

TAYLER Leads Rajasthan to TOP Position in the Point Table.

It was a tale of contrasting performances from two Pune Warriors spinners. Rahul Sharma threatened to win it for them but Murali Kartik lost the plot and Rajasthan Royals' Ross Taylor seized the moment, with valuable support from Ajinkya Rahane, to clinch a thrilling win. Rajasthan moved to the top of the table while Pune stayed frozen at rock bottom. With 52 runs required from six overs, Rahul bowled a gem of a maiden over that included the wicket of the aggressive Ashok Menaria to end his spell with figures of 4-1- 13-3. However, Kartik gifted two short balls and a full toss in the next over and Taylor looted 17 runs with the help of two fours and a six. Suddenly, the equation came down to 29 from 18 and despite two relatively disciplined overs from Alphonso Thomas and Jerome Taylor, Rajasthan just needed the odd boundary here and there to squeeze past the line. Two boundary hits from Rahane and Ross Taylor sealed the contest. When they needed 24 runs from 14 balls, Rahane sliced a slower length ball from Jerome Taylor to the point boundary and when they required 17 from 11 , Ross Taylor slugged a length delivery from Thomas deep into the midwicket stands. Game over. Pune will look back and rue the reprieve they offered Ross Taylor. When Rajasthan needed 32 from 20 , Taylor, on 31 then, heaved Thomas to left of deep midwicket where Nathan McCullum did all the hard work to get there but couldn't hold on. He lunged out to take it but it bounced off his palms as he fell to the ground and bounded off his chest and right thigh. It was that kind of night for Pune. Only Rahul sparkled with the ball and almost single- handedly pushed them to the cusp of victory. His evening changed with a long hop in his second over, the seventh of the innings. Rahul Dravid, who again failed to convert a start, pulled it back to him and Rahul started to choke the run- flow with a slew of bouncing top spinners. However, Kartik had a horror day, leaking 41 runs from his four overs. Pune will also look back at their batting effort and wish if they could have done a bit more. The top order flattered to deceive. The contest of the afternoon was between Shane Warne and Robin Uthappa. It had an overload of skill, adrenaline, ego, canniness and a dash of foolhardiness. It lasted eight deliveries but it encapsulated everything that is good about Twenty20. It had an aggressive batsman intent on attack and an ambitious bowler focused on hunting down his prey. Throw in an umpire ready to brave ferocious appeals and rule on the side of conservatism, and you had a thoroughly entertaining package. Uthappa unfurled the reverse-sweep and conventional sweep to collect two fours. Warne ripped a big leg break next, starting from just about leg stump - part of the ball was outside leg - and it beat the bat to strike the pad. It was the start of Warne's increasingly vocal tussle with the umpire Shavir Tarapore. He yelped out a huge appeal but Tarapore perhaps thought it pitched just outside leg and turned it down. Warne looped the next delivery on a length but Uthappa stretched forward to slog-sweep it over midwicket. Three boundaries in four balls and the heat was well and truly on Warne, who responded with a front-of-hand skidder that landed on the line of leg stump and just about straightened to hit the pad. Warne screamed, Tarapore stayed frozen and Uthappa survived. Warne got the final delivery to skid on towards the leg stump, Uthappa was caught in a tangle and yet again, got stuck on the pad. Replays suggested it would have clipped leg stump but you could understand why the umpire didn't give it. Warne removed himself from Tarapore's end and appeared at Simon Taufel' s in the ninth over. Uthappa again reverse- swept the first ball to the boundary but Warne shortened the length off the next and got it to skid and bounce towards middle. Uthappa ended up top-edging the swat to the keeper. Uthappa's exit was sandwiched between the dismissals of Jesse Ryder, stumped off Johan Botha, and Yuvraj Singh, run out after he backed up too far at the non-striker's end, and it derailed the innings.

Chennai Vs. Deccan - Match Straigedy.

They win one and they lose one but Deccan have slowly picked themselves off the bottom and are beginning to inch up in the points table. They were almost a two-man bowling attack, with only Dale Steyn and Amit Mishra contributing in the first half of the tournament, but suddenly, from nowhere, Ishant Sharma announced himself in some style in their last game . Admittedly, the pitch was helpful but Deccan will hope he will rouse himself to greater deeds from here on. As far as their batting is concerned, Deccan have depended heavily on Kumar Sangakkara. Their domestic batsmen have failed, their big signings like Cameron White, Daniel Christian and JP Duminy haven't quite managed to live up to their billing yet. So, it's no surprise that they haven't been consistent so far. Deccan's opponents Chennai Super Kings have lost three games but it took some exceptional performances, and iffy conditions, to beat them. Paul Valthaty dropped his cloak of anonymity one day, Harbhajan Singh picked his maidenTwenty20 five-for on another day, and rain played a big part in the game they lost to Kochi. They have won all their home games and won their first away game in the last encounter against Pune. They return to Chennai where their spin-heavy attack can be expected to test Deccan's batting. Form guide (most recent first) Deccan : WLWLW (sixth in points table) Chennai : WWLLW (fifth in points table) Team talk Will Deccan Chargers opt for the off-colour Pragyan Ojha at Chepauk? Ojha, who was a star performer in previous IPL editions, has been looted for runs but they might be tempted to give him a go on Sunday. Surely, now, JP Duminy, or even Michael Lumb, will be given a go in place of Cameron White? In the spotlight S Badrinath has been one of the most classically pure batsmen in this IPL. Everything seems to have fallen in place for him this IPL season; he hasn't been dismissed in his last three games and has harvested runs in some style. Interestingly, he will face Dale Steyn, the man who made him look like a novice in his last Test match . The ball cut in, swung out, reared at the throat, and Badrinath struggled; his critics have used that failure to fuel their arguments. Will there be a mini-redemption for him on Sunday? India loves their quick bowlers because there haven't been many in their history. And so when Ishant Sharma harassed Ricky Ponting in a furious spell at Perth, they thought they had found a new hero. However, Ishant slowly lost his mojo and with it his place in the national team. He sparkled on a pitch that had something for the seamers against Kochi. Will it be the start of his journey back to the highest level or was it just a one-off? Prime numbers Kumar Sangakkara and Badrinath are the top scorers for their respective sides and both have made 235 runs. Chennai have two other batsman who have tallied more than 200 but Deccan's second highest run-tally is 144 ( Bharat Chipli). Doug Bollinger is the only bowler from either of these teams who has an economy rate of under 6 an over (5.93) The chatter "Our captain [ Sangakkara] is playing beautifully at the moment, Sunny Sohal has done well, [Bharat] Chipli has also done quite well. Mishra's been outstanding, probably one of the best bowlers in the competition. Everyone's beating everyone out there. No one's really slipping away at the top of the table. If we win tomorrow it will be our fourth win and we'll be pretty close to those four top positions.

Delhi Vs. Punjab - Match Preview !

Having played only six games, Kings XI Punjab are in a far better position than their eighth place in the points table suggests. They will know, though, that they could have been much better off if not for defeats in their previous two games. The bowlers came a cropper in the run-fest against Delhi Daredevils, before the batting misfired against Kolkata Knight Riders. Punjab's other problem is potential rustiness. They have played only twice in ten days, a luxury rarely afforded in a tournament with mind-bogglingly fast turn-arounds. Positions in the league have changed with the randomness of a top-end washing machine; the next few days could be Punjab's chance to move up the ladder. Their defeat in Jaipur notwithstanding, Mumbai Indians have been a clinical and efficient juggernaut. If anything, they will be smarting from the drubbing at Rajasthan Royal's hands. Sachin Tendulkar has had a couple of failures after a strong start to the tournament. Davy Jacobs and Ambati Rayudu have also gone off the boil in the last week. Punjab's bowlers should brace for a strong resurgence. Their batsmen should find armoured toe-caps since Lasith Malinga will once again look to sling down those yorkers. Form guide (most recent first) Mumbai : LWWWW (third in points table) Punjab : LLWWW (eighth in points table) Team talk Abhishek Nayar's place in the Punjab XI will come under scrutiny. Paras Dogra or Mandeep Singh could come in if they look to bolster the batting. They might also choose to bench one of their three spinners, in which case either Piyush Chawla or Bipul Sharma will sit out. Mumbai might have run out of reasons to retain R Sathish. T Suman will consider himself unlucky if he misses out again. Predict the playing XIs for this match . In the spotlight Paul Valthaty loves to get a half-step forward and hit cleanly through the line. Lasith Malinga loves to push batsmen like Valthaty into their crease with scorching yorkers. The former is from Mumbai. The latter plays for Mumbai. The real fans at the Wankhede will root for Valthaty. One way or the other, this mini- battle should be fun to watch. Adam Gilchrist played one of his most memorable Test innings at this very ground, back in 2001 . He came up against Harbhajan Singh, on the threshold of greatness, and tamed him with an unforgettable assault. Ten years hence, Gilchrist has called time on an illustrious career, and enjoys himself in the IPL. Ten years hence, Harbhajan has managed to produce sparks of brilliance without reprising 2001. Expect fireworks when he runs in to Gilchrist on Monday. Prime numbers Malinga has the most wickets (17) , the best strike-rate (9.7) as well as the best average (9.64) in the tournament Harbhajan and Malinga have picked up two of the three five-fors in the tournament The chatter "They are the best team in the competition, no doubt about that. They have a star-studded line- up that includes some good Indian domestic talent."

Great relief for daredevils- Sehwag has undertaken his responsbility.

After five defeats in seven games, Virender Sehwag was desperate for a win. And he wasn't going to let a dodgy pitch come in his way. Sehwag' s genius demands a challenge in the limited- overs format, and particularly in the shortest version of the game. Saturday was one of those occasions when his batting was pitted against much more than the Kochi Tuskers bowling attack. On a pitch where a batsman was dismissed leg before when the ball zooted on to his boot in the second over of the game, Sehwag scripted one of the best IPL innings, making 80 off 47 deliveries. The next highest score in the match was 31. Delhi needed some inspiration to extricate themselves from the bottom of the points table, and there was no one better than Sehwag to provide it; especially after Sreesanth's first delivery had barely risen above David Warner's shin to strike off stump. Three deliveries later, a length ball rolled across the surface to strike Naman Ojha in front, on his shoelaces. Sehwag gritted his teeth at the non-striker's end and decided that it was time for a different approach. "The wicket was not easy to bat on but I took the responsibility to bat at least 15-16 overs. I was hitting the ball very nicely but we were losing wickets as well so it was obvious that I had to bat a little longer," Sehwag said. "If wickets would not have fallen, I could have gone after the bowling, but I told myself that if I stayed a little longer, then we could get to 120-130 which would be a good total on this wicket." What he did not reveal was that he was head and shoulders above the others in his possession of the skill and determination required to survive and score on the unpredictable wicket. He had time to guide deliveries from off stump past point, loft inside out against the turn over extra cover, and pull deliveries that barely got up over deep midwicket. Mahela Jayawardene, the Kochi captain, acknowledged as much. "I think Viru batted very well, we knew he was very crucial for their innings and tried to get him but the way we bowled in the last 10 overs, I don't think we had any control of things." Sehwag blasted four fours and five sixes off his last 15 deliveries as Delhi took 94 off the last 7.2 overs to reach 157 , which was way above par on the low wicket. " 130-140 probably would have been a very competitive score for us to chase down, but 160 was a bit tough," Jayawardene said. "We did not bowl in good areas at all; we were too full, we didn't hit the deck in the last ten overs but we bowled well in the first ten overs. Viru batted well. I can't take anything away from him, but 130 would have been a good score for us to chase down." Jayawardene said that on such a wicket, the key was to play as straight as possible, something that was easier said than done as Parthiv Patel's dismissal showed. "You are never sure when the low bounce is going to come so I think the best way is to bat without thinking about whether it is going to stay low. If it comes low, you can't control it but just try and play straight. It's tough but we have to try and adjust to these conditions all around, batsmen and bowlers, and try to fight it out." Sehwag, who said that 120 would have been a par total, was delighted with what Delhi managed, and told his bowlers to keep it in good areas and let the wicket do the rest. "Maybe one ball would keep low or another would stop. It is difficult to chase when the ball is keeping low. All my bowlers did a fantastic job. Whenever I brought Morne [Morkel] in, he took a wicket. You can't expect more from your bowlers when they run in every time and take wickets." Delhi could not have expected more from their captain as well, who mastered the conditions that felled everyone else, including batsmen like Jayawardene and Brad Hodge.

Virendra Sehwag 'EXPLODED' in the end, Kochi 'DESTROYED' !

Virender Sehwag showcased his class on a tricky Nehru Stadium surface on which numerous deliveries hardly got up above ankle height. Sehwag took his time before exploding in the end to lift Delhi Daredevils to 157 , a score that proved beyond Kochi Tuskers Kerala and breathed some life in to Delhi's doddering campaign. In a knock that must surely go down as one of the best IPL innings, Sehwag smashed 49 off his last 15 deliveries to surge to 80 off 47 , on a wicket where even survival was an achievement for batsmen. Smarting from the big defeat against Deccan Chargers on a green- tinged home pitch, Kochi went to the opposite spectrum of surface preparation, dishing out a dry and loose wicket on which the ball kept alarmingly low right from the start. But they ran in to a determined Sehwag who, quickly realising that his usual cavalier style was not going to work, changed his approach, playing as safely as a Sehwag can. The surface had come under scrutiny at the toss when Sehwag voiced doubts over it, saying the top surface was coming loose when someone walked on the wicket. Right away, the first ball from Sreesanth, in the second over, hardly got above David Warner's shin, and disturbed his off stump as he was caught clueless on the back foot. The fourth ball just rolled along the ground after pitching on a length, catching Naman Ojha on the boot in front of leg stump as Sehwag watched incredulously from the non-striker's end. Delhi's innings was built around a 56- run stand between Yogesh Nagar and Sehwag after Venugopal Rao fell to leave them at 35 for 3 the seventh over. The extent to which Sehwag reined himself in was evident when Delhi went without a boundary for 38 balls. It was Nagar who ended the drought when he launched R Vinay Kumar past extra cover in the 12 th over. Sehwag, who was on a scarcely believable 31 off 32 , broke free in the next over, slamming Ravindra Jadeja for consecutive sixes over long-off and deep midwicket. On a pitch where batsmen were finding it difficult to hang in, Sehwag toyed with the bowling. The shots that had been put away came out in a torrent of calculated hitting. It rained pulls, whips, inside-out lofts, late cuts on a hapless Kochi attack. Vinay Kumar disappeared for 15 in the 15 th over, B Akhil was scattered for 18 in the next. Sehwag's complete control over his craft was on display against Ramesh Powar. Even as the offspinner tossed the ball up, Sehwag found time to dance down the track and lift him effortlessly against the turn over extra cover. His dismissal in the next over off Vinay was also characteristic, caught at deep extra cover on the edge of the rope, going inside out with three men in front of square on the off side boundary. But his charge lifted Delhi to 157 , after they had been 62 for 3 in the 13 th over. Shell-shocked Kochi's only chance on the treacherous wicket was if their top order came good, but it wasn't to be. The pitch didn't play a major role in the first two dismissals though. IPL debutant Michael Klinger flicked Morne Morkel only for Roelof van der Merwe, in for the injured James Hopes, to pull off a blinder at square leg. Two deliveries later, Brendon McCullum decided that the only way to tackle the unpredictable surface was the blind charge, and lost his middle stump to Irfan Pathan. Parthiv Patel found just how difficult the track was, as a back-of-a- length Pathan delivery barely rose a foot, easily going under his defensive push and disturbing off stump. As a disgusted Parthiv walked off in a volley of expletives, it was left to Kochi's two most-experienced batsmen, Mahela Jayawardene and Brad Hodge, to salvage the chase from 28 for 3. Jayawardene hung around for a while but it was always going to be difficult to get more than eight an over on such a wicket. In trying to whip Ajit Agarkar over midwicket, he spooned a tame catch to Sehwag when on 18. Hodge could not capitalise on a dropped chance by Pathan on 15 and his dismissal by Morne Morkel in the 14 th over effectively ended Kochi's chances though a few hits from Ravindra Jadeja reduced the margin of defeat.