Date – 23 April 2009

Rajasthan Royals defeated Kolkata Knight Riders in a thriller today. When the scored were tied at 150 after 20 overs, the ‘Super over’ was brought into play for the first time in the IPL. Rajasthan Royals batsmen Yusuf Pathan scored 16 runs to win the match and thus Knight Riders faced their second defeat in three matches.

In a super over, the team which scores the highest runs wins. But in case its again a tie then the one with maximum sixes in that over is declared the winner.

Batting first Kolkata Knight Riders scored 15 runs in their over, thanks to three boundaries by Chris Gayle of Kamran’s over. When Rajasthan Royals came to bat, Yusuf Pathan scored 6, 2, 6 and 4 off Ajantha Mendis to win the most closed contest of IPL-2.

Man Of The Match – Yusuf Pathan

Date – 22 April 2009

Deccan Chargers are now at Number 1 position in IPL Standings by registering a 24 runs win over Banglore Royal Challengers. Skipper Gilchrist won the toss and elected to bat first. Former Australian wicket-keeper explosive batsman Gilchrist entertain the crowd with his superb performance. He scored 71 runs from 45 balls including 4 fours and 5 huge sixes. Praveen Kumar provide first breakthrough by dismissing opener Gibbs. After that it was a wonderful performance from Rohit Sharma. He hit three huge sixes in Kumble’s over. Rohit Sharma manage to complete his half century and was out for a score of 52 runs in 30 balls. Deccan Chargers put a total of 184/6 in 20 overs. In reply, RC opener was cleaned bowled from pacer F.Edwards on first ball of the match. Only Dravid (48) and V.Kohli (50) score runs Royal Challengers Banglore manage to score 160/8 in 20 overs

Man Of The Match – Adam Gilchrist

Playing XI –

DC – Adam Gilchrist (C) (W), Herschelle Gibbs, VVS Laxman, Rohit Sharma, Scott Styris, Venugopal Rao, Dwaraka Ravi Teja, Pragyan Ojha, Harmeet Singh, RP Singh, Fidel Edwards

RCB – Robin Uthappa (W), Jesse Ryder, Jacques Kallis, Kevin Pietersen (C), Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Rajesh Bishnoi, Karan Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Dale Steyn, Anil Kumble

Date – 21 April 2009

Clash Between two giants of cricket world Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne called off due to heavy rain. Both teams Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals got 1 point each. Before this Rajasthan Royals lost their opening match to Banglore Royal Challengers and Mumbai Indians were victorious over Chennai Super Kings.

Date – 21 April 2009

Kings XI Punjab match again interrupted by rain. This time their match was against Kolkata Knight Riders. Knight Riders won the toss and elected to field first. It was not the good start for Kings XI as Goel was out for a duck by pacer Sharma. After that Irfan Pathan was promoted up to order and he didn’t let the decision down by his performance. He scored 32 runs from 17 balls including 5 fours and 1 six. Skipper Yuvraj Singh played his natural game and hit 38 runs from 28 balls before he was  dismiss by M.Henriques. Mahela Jayawardena played a descent innings and scores 31 runs from 19 balls and put a total of 158/6 in 20 overs. In reply to this opener Chris Gayle shows no mercy to any Kings XI bowlers and with help of 4 sixes and 2 fours he was not out on 44 runs from 26 balls before rain interrupt the match. By D/L method Knight Riders were adjudged as winner as they win by 11 runs.

Man Of The Match – Chris Gayle

Playing XI –

KXIP – Karan Goel, Ravi Bopara, Yuvraj Singh (C), Kumar Sangakkara (W), Mahela Jayawardena, Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Taruwar Kohli, Vikramjeet Malik, VRV Singh, Yusuf Abdulla

KKR –

Date – 20 April 2009

Sizzling performance from Matthew Hayden and Muttiah Muralitharan help Chennai to open a victory account in IPL-2 season. Chennai won the toss and elected to bat first. Opening batsman Parthiv Patel and Matthew Hayden do not allow the Royal Challengers bowlers to settle down. Mathew Hayden played his natural attacking game as he scored 65 run from 39 balls before he was run out by Rahul Dravid. But the first breakthrough was provided by captain Kevin Pietersen as he bowled out Parthiv Patel in his first over. After that Raina and Flintoff give some massive blow to opposition and put a total of 179/5 in 20 overs. In reply to this competitive total, Royal Challengers had not a good start as opener Praveen Kumar was bowled out by pacer Gony. Legend spinner Muttiah Muralitharan plays a vital role in victory of his team as he took 3 wickets by giving only 11 runs in 4 overs. From Royal Challengers, Kallis was top scorer as he hit 24 from 19 balls. Royal Challengers were all out for just 87 runs in 15.2 overs.

Man Of The Match – Muttiah Muralitharan

Playing XI –

RCB – Jacques Kallis, Robin Uthappa (W), Ross Taylor, Kevin Pietersen (C), Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Rajesh Bishnoi, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Dale Steyn, Anil Kumble

CSK – Parthiv Patel, Matthew Hayden, Suresh Raina, Andrew Flintoff, MS Dhoni (C) (W), Lakshmipathy Balaji, Subramaniam Badrinath, Joginder Sharma, Albie Morkel, Manpreet Gony, Muttiah Muralidaran