On a three-match winning streak, Chennai Super Kings will look to seal their play-off berth when they take on an erratic Kings XI Punjab in a crucial preliminary match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2012.

The tournament in its final leg, there is a mad scramble to bag the three available spots in the top-four to make the play-off cut after table-toppers Delhi Daredevils became the first team to qualify with 20 points from 14 matches.

Chennai, playing their last league match tomorrow, are on the fourth spot after eight wins and six losses that left their points tally at 17.

Kings XI Punjab also have an outside chance of making the play-offs provided they win both their remaining matches and some results go their way. Punjab are currently seventh in the list with seven wins and an equal number of losses.

Led by stand-in captain David Hussey, KXIP have the daunting task of beating tough teams such as Chennai and Delhi Daredevils here.

Opener Mandeep Singh has been the prolific scorer for his team accumulating. Australian Shaun Marsh, former Pakistani all-rounder Azhar Mahmood and young South African David Miller too have shown that the home side’s batting has depth.

But the defeat against Delhi in the away match would have surely affected the team’s morale.

Medium pacers Praveen Kumar, Parvinder Awana and Mahmood who can bat as well, have done a decent job in the bowling department and the team’s fielding, too, has improved as the tournament has progressed.

Kolkata Knight Riders dished out a clinical bowling performance to beat Mumbai Indians comprehensively by 32 runs and virtually seal a berth in the four-team play-offs of the Indian Premier League on Wednesday. With is win KKR moved to second place in the IPL Points Table

Chasing a modest 141, MI lost wickets at regular intervals after being 60 for one to be shot out for 108 in 19.1 overs, their second lowest total of the season after the paltry 92 made against Delhi Daredevils at this venue.

West Indian off-spinner Sunil Narine was unplayable and pushed MI to the brink with a superb haul of four for 15.

Narine was well-supported by Laxmipathy Balaji (2 for 11) and Jacques Kallis (2 for 42), while left arm spinners Shakib Al Hasan and Iqbal Abdulla too did their bit with a wicket each.

MI batsmen made a hash of what appeared to be a gettable score at the Wankhede Stadium and again the dismissal of their icon Sachin Tendulkar for 27 in the 11th over triggered a sharp collapse, which saw the home team lose their last eight wickets for just 48 runs.

The MI batsmen struggled against the varied KKR attack on a wicket that possessed no devil like in the past but provided some appreciable bounce to the spinners.

The victory helped KKR to take the second spot behind table leaders Delhi Daredevils with 19 points, while MI remained third on 18 points ahead of their final game against Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur on May 20.

KKR will face Pune Warriors in their final league game at Pune on Saturday.

Apart from Tendulkar, who hit three fours and a six in 24 balls, Dinesh Kartik (21), Rohit Sharma (12) and Ambati Rayudu (11) got starts but failed to bring Mumbai to the finishing line.

Earlier, Rudra Pratap Singh bagged two wickets in as many balls in his first over as Mumbai Indians restricted Kolkata Knight Riders to a paltry 140 for 7.

Seeking a victory to seal a play-off berth, MI were on top from the time skipper Harbhajan Singh opted to field after winning the toss as their bowlers, led by R P Singh, kept the rival batsmen on a tight leash.

There was little of note in KKR’s innings, which never kept going after the loss of opener Brendon McCullum and Jacques Kallis in successive balls to R P Singh.

Skipper Gautam Gambhir made 27 off 23 balls with a six and three fours, while Manoj Tiwary scored an attractive 41 off 43 balls with two sixes and as many fours before both threw away their wickets.

The lower order batsmen tried their bit and managed to add 46 runs in the last five overs, with Yusuf Pathan making an unbeaten 21 in 21 balls with two fours, but the score looked below par on a track that looked good for batting.

For MI, who had lost their previous home game to Royal Challengers Bangalore by a big margin, R P Singh led the bowling honours with figures of two for 33 while Lasith Malinga, Munaf Patel, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Smith all picked up a wicket apiece.

KKR were rocked on the back foot by R P Singh who packed off McCullum (1) and Kallis (0) off successive balls in his first over, and the innings’ second.

While McCullum got the wrong end of a dubious umpiring decision, Kallis had his off stump uprooted by a peach of a delivery from R P Singh.

Indian Premier League 2012

Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders – 65th Match

Played at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, 16 May 2012

Toss - Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to Field.

Result – Kolkata Knight Riders beat Mumbai Indians by 32 runs

Fall of wickets (Kolkata Knight Riders):

1-6 (McCullum, 1.2 ov), 2-6 (Kallis, 1.3 ov), 3-44 (Gambhir, 8.3 ov), 4-89 (Shakib Al Hasan, 13.2 ov), 5-91 (Tiwary, 14.1 ov), 6-96 (Das, 15.4 ov), 7-125 (Bhatia, 18.1 ov)

Fall of wickets (Mumbai Indians):

1-26 (Gibbs, 5.6 ov), 2-60 (Tendulkar, 10.6 ov), 3-66 (Karthik, 12.5 ov), 4-83 (Rayudu, 15.3 ov), 5-96 (Pollard, 16.4 ov), 6-96 (Smith, 16.5 ov), 7-97 (Harbhajan Singh, 17.1 ov), 8-104 (Sharma, 17.5 ov), 9-108 (Malinga, 18.6 ov), 10-108 (Singh, 19.1 ov)

Teams:
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Herschelle Gibbs, Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik(w), Ambati Rayudu, Dwayne Smith, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh(c), Lasith Malinga, RP Singh, Munaf Patel

Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Brendon McCullum(w), Gautam Gambhir(c), Jacques Kallis, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Manoj Tiwary, Debabrata Das, Rajat Bhatia, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Iqbal Abdulla, Sunil Narine

New Delhi: Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar supported the BCCI’s decision to suspend the five uncapped Indian players as allegations of spot-fixing in the IPL surfaced through a television sting operation in which these players were named.

“Yes, it was correct to suspend them. That’s the least they could have done,” said Gavaskar.

The action to suspend Mohnish Mishra, Shalabh Srivastava, TP Sudhindra, Amit Yadav and Abhinav Bali with immediate effect pending inquiry was taken after a lengthy tele-conference of top BCCI officials and members of the IPL Governing Council on Tuesday.

“You don’t need players who are even contemplating doing the things that they have allegedly done. You need to ban them not just from IPL, but ban them till the inquiry is complete,” Gavaskar told an Indian news channel.

The Indian cricket board swung into action a day after the expose as the issue rocked Parliament on Monday, and former players and cricket administrators also called for strong action to rid the game of even a whiff of a scandal. Television channel India TV claimed to have blown the lid off “murky deals” in the IPL, among players, organisers, owners and big guns of Indian cricket. The TV sting operation, which was aired at prime time on Monday, created a flutter in the Indian cricket establishment, prompting the BCCI to react quickly.

New Delhi: Tainted cricketer Mohnish Mishra has accepted the statements he made during the sting operation which claimed to have exposed corruption in the IPL, but said he had done that casually “to develop his value”. Mishra was suspended by his Indian Premier League team Pune Warriors with immediate effect, hours after the BCCI handed him the same punishment for his alleged involvement in spot-fixing pending a board inquiry.

“We strongly condemn his irresponsible conduct and are suspending him with immediate effect till further investigation happens. He will not take any further part in the IPL,” Pune Warriors owner Sushanto Roy said in a release. “We appreciate the stand taken by the BCCI and welcome the step of suspending Mohnish Mishra.” Read Full Article here

Thirsting for revenge and desperate to arrest their two-match losing streak in the ongoing Indian Premier League, Kolkata Knight Riders would settle for nothing less than a victory in their return leg clash against Mumbai Indians on Wednesday.

But it won’t be easy for KKR as Mumbai Indians, with 18 points from 14 matches, hold an edge over the visitors and a victory in their last home game tomorrow would definitely cement the Harbhajan Singh-led side’s place in the second stage of the competition.

KKR, who suffered back-to-back defeats in their last two games – against MI and holders Chennai Super Kings – at the home venue of Eden Gardens, are a point adrift of their rivals with 17 in their kitty from 14 games.

But a win against Mumbai tomorrow at the Wankhede Stadium would virtually seal KKR’s place in the four-team play-offs ahead of their final round robin game against the struggling Pune Warriors on May 19.

KKR, however, need to dust off the stunning last-ball defeat against Chennai last night in their final home game of the season if they desire to match the highly confident Mumbai outfit, whose main adversary playing in their backyard has been the uncertain nature of the wickets.

On wickets that have helped batsmen, MI have been on roll, but on wickets that have either seamed around or helped spin bowlers overtly, their mighty batting line-up has struggled a bit ? indicated by their 3-4 win-loss record at home this season.

Mumbai have turned it around after being comprehensively outplayed by the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede Stadium on May 9. They defeated KKR and RCB away from home in back-to-back games to stand on the threshold of qualifying for the next stage of the competition.

If it was Rohit Sharma who flattened KKR with a brilliant unbeaten 109, his maiden IPL ton, it was another talented youngster, Ambati Rayudu, who stole the win for MI against RCB last night in Bangalore with a brilliant 81 not out off 54 balls.

Though Sachin Tendulkar failed to prosper in both these matches, getting out to single digit scores, MI would be heartened by the performance of Rohit, their leading run-getter this season with 407 from 14 games, and Rayudu.

The availability of South African Herschelle Gibbis to open the innings with Tendulkar has lent the cutting edge to the home team’s fielding.

However, the flip side of Mumbai’s batting has been the inconsistent showing of its number three batsman Rohit, who has fired in one match and then flopped in another.

And KKR know very well that Rohit is the batsman to be stopped at all costs along with Tendulkar and the big-hitting Kieron Pollard whose return from a shoulder injury has galvanised the team’s stuttering form.

Mumbai’s bowling has been a mixed bag right throughout the tournament with the exception of Lasith Malinga, who heads their wicket-takers’ list with 20 scalps from 11 games.

And Malinga would continue to pose serious danger to the rival batsmen whenever he operates.