Jakati has got the start he needed: Dhoni
May 02, 2009 (Johannesburg):JOHANNESBURG: After having registered a 18-run win over Delhi Daredevils, Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni said that he was happy with the overall performance of the team and would like to carry on the winning momentum.
On his team's performance: I will not say that pressure was not on us but then it is the part and parcel of the game. You win some and then you lose some. It was an important match for us, because Delhi Daredevils are one of the strongest teams in the Indian Premier League. They is a well balanced side. So it was important for us to get points on the board. I think we started off quite well and capitalised in the middle-overs but we failed to finish it off well. All the big-hitters including Albie Morkel, me and Jacob Oram didn't really click. We need to perform in the future as we are a side that relies heavily on its batting. If one of us clicks in future and with our top-order performing well we can give good targets to our bowlers to defend. And that is our strategy.
On Murali's magic: I always knew that Muralitharan will be a tricky customer under lights. We were fortunate to get David Warner's wicket and after that we put pressure on them.
On changes in the side: Well, we had just one change – Parthiv Patel was rested because I was 100 per cent fit. So that was only one change.
On Man of the Match: Shadab Jakati has been bowling well at the nets and today when he got the chance he performed well. So he got the start needed for a youngster to get going in the Indian Premier League. I am quite happy with his performance. He bowls really well and mixes them. He is never afraid to give flight.
On his own batting form: I think I my batting is pathetic in the tournament so far.
On Gautam Gambhir's captaincy: I think he marshaled his resources well. He bowled Amit Mishra well and the leg-spinner is one of their leading bowlers so I think he used him well. He used Rajat Bhatia in the end. So, overall I think it was a good start for Gautam. I was happy to get him early in the innings, because he is capable of playing the sheet-anchor role and bat through the innings. He is dangerous batsman.
On youngsters coming from unknown territory: It is a very open tournament and people are always looking for fresh talent. Jakati was part of our side even last year. But we were quite happy with the bowling as we played with three all-rounders and Muralitharan with Makhaya Ntini spearheading the attack. We had a decent batting line-up last year, so we used to play an extra batsman to strengthen our batting. But this season things have changed, the spinners are able to get good amount of purchase from the wicket as the innings progress. The batsmen tend to go after the spinners and take their chances and that this is one of the reasons why spinners have been so successful in the tournament.
On selector's dilemma over selection of squad for T20 World Cup: The more difficult it becomes, the better for us. We will go with the best 15 players in the ICC World Twenty20. So I am quite happy.
On overwhelming fan support: Well it was quite noisy and one could easily see fans supporting our team. The flags and the yellow T-shirts were all over the stadium. So it was really nice to have support. I am very happy with the kind of support we are getting. I think since today was a Saturday, people came out in large numbers to watch the game.
On S Badrinath's performance: I think Badrinath was batting down the order last year. He was coming at No. 6 or 7 and not getting the right opportunity. So we thought of promoting him to No. 4 this time around. He can play his natural game and then we have big hitters down the order who can go and accelerate and captalise in the last five or six overs. He is working well for us. He is very good over covers and mid-wicket. He is also quite good against the short ball. So overall, the strength of our batting line-up goes up. And I am really happy to see him perform well.
On team composition: More often you will see these four overseas players in our playing XI -- Matthew Hayden, Muttiah Muralitharan, Jacob Oram and Albie Morkel. They are an integral part of the team. Until and unless someone gets injured or loses form we are not going to change them. So, it is not really difficult to pick the playing XI.
Royals thump Chargers by 3 wickets
May 02, 2009 (New Delhi):Rajasthan Royals made a remarkable recovery from a top order slump to beat Deccan Chargers' by three-wickets in a thrilling Indian Premier League match here on Saturday.
The Royals registered their third victory in the event from seven matches to put their title defence campaign on track, while the Deccan Chargers slumped to their second consecutive defeat to slide from the top of the points table.
Chasing a modest 142 run target, the Royals rode on useful contributions from their lower middle order, especially young Abhishek Raut (36 off 23) to scamper home in 19.4 overs after they were tottering at 3/3 at one stage of the match.
Earlier opting to bat, Adam Gilchrist (39) started the Chargers' innings on a blistering note, picking up 27 runs of the first three overs and then Rohit Sharma (38) and T Suman (41) stitched a crucial 59-run stand for the fourth wicket to guide Deccan Chargers to 141 for five.
The Royals started their innings on a disastrous note as they lost three quick wickets by the end of the second over.
Graeme Smith's misery with the bat continued as he fell without troubling the scorers in the second ball off Fidel Edwards' opening over, caught at third man by Shoaib Ahmed.
Swanpil Asnodkar did not do any justice either as he was run out by Gibbs in the very next ball and then Naman Ojha added more worries for the Royals when he gave a straight forward catch to Gibbs at point off RP Singh in the second over to see the defending champions slump to a precarious 3/3.
But then came in Lee Carseldine, and in young Ravindra Jadeja's (12) company, the Queenslander added 51 runs in 7.1 overs for the fourth wicket to set the tone for the run chase.
The Queenslander showed why offence is always regarded as the best defence as he brought back the Royals' chase on track, hitting six fours enroute his 31-ball 39.
But much to the dislike of Royals' supporters, the bowling change in the 10th over did the trick for Chargers as Venugopal Rao (2/23) broke the partnership, scalping both Jadeja and Carseldine's wickets in a span of four balls to see the defending champions struggle at 60/5 at the halfway mark.
However, skipper Shane Warne (21) had other plans.
Needing 74 off 54, he hoiked Rao over long on for a six and then added another after the bowler dropped an easy caught and ball chance in his previous delivery. Raut finished off the over with a cheeky four to take 17 runs of the eventful 12th over.
Pragyan Ojha (1/27) stopped Warne's cameo with Gilchrist easily pouncing on to a skier.
Dangerous Yusuf Pathan (24 off 14) made his intentions clear from the word go. He struck two back-to-back sixes of Shoaib Mohammad in the 15th over to bring the Royals back in the hunt.
With 11 runs needing off 13 balls, the game witnessed another anti-climax when Pathan got out, trying another big hit, caught by Gibbs off RP Singh (2/18).
But Raut and Shane Harwood (3) ensured no further worries for the Royals bringing them home with two balls to spare.
Earlier, Gilchrist struck Munaf for a boundary and a six over fine leg in the second over and then followed it up with two more fours of Yusuf Pathan's next over to signal his intentions.
Herschelle Gibbs (8) was the first to depart when in-form Pathan (1/19) caught him plumb in front of the wicket. However, the South African seemed unhappy with the decision.
Debutant Shane Harwood (2/25) ensured double blow for the Chargers, picking up Azhar Bilakhia with his very first ball of the tournament, caught by Siddharth Trivedi to send the Hyderabad outfit in a spot of bother at 35/2.
From there on, Gilchrist and new man in Rohit found boundaries hard to come by, but kept the scoreboard ticking with ones and twos.
The former Australian wicket-keeper, however, cut lose in Shane Warne opening over, dispatching the leggie over long on.
But Ravindra Jadeja (1/22) cut Gilchrist's innings short just two balls before the strategy break with Pathan taking a smart catch at short mid-wicket.
But a 42-ball 59-run stand between Rohit and Suman finally saved the day for Chargers and ensured a decent total for the table toppers.
Suman hit Warne for a four and six in consecutive balls in the 13th over to set the tone for the Chargers.
Rohit too joined the party, dispatching Munaf over the mid-wicket fence in first ball of the 15th over and then followed it up with a boundary a delivery later.
However, Rohit's over aggression finally did him with Warne latching on to an easy catch off Siddharth Trivedi just after the right-hander hit a six off the bowler in his previous delivery.
Umpires report Kamran for suspect bowling action
PRETORIA: At the game between the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals played out at the Centurion in Pretoria last evening, the on-field umpires Mr. Rudi Koertzen and Mr. G. A. Baxter, observed that Rajasthan Royals left-arm fastmedium bowler Kamran Khan had a suspect illegal bowling action on certain deliveries.
On completion of the match, footage was obtained and examined by all the three umpires including Mr. Amish Saheba who was the TV Umpire for the match and it was their collective belief that further action was necessary under the MCC's Laws of Cricket section 24.3 that governs the game. The match referee for the game at the Centurion was G. R. Viswanath.
The matter has now been referred by the Indian Premier League to the team management of the Rajasthan Royals and the IPL's Technical Committee as per the MCC's Laws of Cricket that govern the game.
Indian Premier League Chairman & Commissioner Lalit Modi today stated "I have officially received a copy of the match umpires report duly signed by all the three umpires and the video footage for the game at the Centurion. The matter has now been referred to the team management of the Rajasthan Royals and the IPL's Technical Committee. I now await the report from the Technical Committee and will then decide on the future course of action."
We need a lot of things to go our way now: McCullum
EAST LONDON: Kolkata Knight Riders captain Brendon McCullum admits that his team now needs a lot of things to go its way if it is to make the semifinals of the DLF Indian Premier League 2009. "We haven't managed to come on top of those close games and find ourselves sitting at the bottom of the table now, " he said.
On the widening gap between KKR and the other teams: In terms of results, it is. In terms of our ability, I don't think so. Anytime we can take the three games that we have played, as tight as that they have been. You take it that close you know that your team is not too far off the beat. On a different day, in a different year, things like that could go your way and you could end up winning all three games and sitting somewhere near the top of that ladder. We haven't managed to come on top of those games and find ourselves sitting at the bottom of the table now, needing a lot of things to go our way, in order to make the semi-finals.
On having five off days and if something is wrong in the dressing room: I thought we played some good cricket during those times as well. Talking about the competition, we have got some of the greatest players in the game at the moment participating in it. So if you are not quite at your best for the entire game, someone can take the game away from you. And that's we have encountered in a number of games so far. We have got close, we haven't played to our absolute maximum ability that we can do. But I think we have played pretty well at times. We just haven't been able to get across the line in tight situations, The team dynamics and team culture is still very strong, as strong as it can be. The guys are still sticking together and still trying to enjoy their cricket with each other. It's hard when results don't go your way, but I certainly can't ask for anything more in terms of the dressing room.
On the one thing missing in the dressing room: Winning. It's hard for a team when you are not getting the result at the end of the game. It hurts more when you lose than when you feel win that's for sure. You tend to look inside and hope that things can go your way. I can't ask for more from the guys, they are giving all they can. They are staying tight as a group and trying hearts out in every game. I think you have seen them lifting their intensity as a group, you have seen lifting their attitude towards winning. They are just trying as hard they probably can. We can't get ourselves across the line at the moment. It has got nothing to do with any comments in the dressing room. That's for sure.
On losing to Mumbai Indians again: It sort of feels like someone keeps stealing our wallet. How close we get in these games and we can't quite get across the line, I thought we played a lot better today. I thought the way we were on the field was as desperate as what I have seen us play all through the tournament. I thought the bowlers bowled pretty well, until the last couple of overs. Duminy played exceptionally well, probably got them to score that was probably 10 to 15 runs more than what they deserved leading up to that stage. Even after losing couple of early wickets, I still thought the partnership between Morne and Hodgy really got us into the game. We lost the wicket at a key time and were not able to gain ascendancy, going into the last few.
On batting so low down the order: I wasn't initially going to bat that low. But with circumstances changing, with the nature of a good partnership being put together felt Lucky...Laxmi would be able to come in and take full advantage of their fifth bowler. He is a very good hitter of spin bowling or medium-pace. I thought the way Sachin held back the fifth bowler probably negated that move. And in the end to have Malinga bowl that second last over proved a masterstroke.
On his conversation with the umpires before the start of the 19th over: One of the guys (Graham Napier) had a flight to catch. They were asking if they can take him off and get another player out there. Obviously they needed our approval or they would have to field out there with 10 players. Once we found out the reason was, we said he could go and they could bring a replacement.
On whether Chris Gayle will play the next game: I am not entirely sure. I am hoping he is going to play one more game.
On why best death overs bowler in South Africa, Charl Langeveldt is not playing: We can only play four overseas players at once. So I guess it's kind of tough. At some stage in this tournament he will get a game. He is also not playing international cricket at the moment. There are a couple of guys around the world who are good at death bowling. Malinga is probably the best at it when he gets it right, it's incredibly hard to hit. But Charl. if he gets an opportunity, I am sure he will do very well for us too.
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