Mumbai Indians lift IPL 2013 title at Eden Gardens
Category: IPL,IPL 2013 News,IPL Chennai Super Kings,IPL Match Results,IPL Mumbai IndiansKolkata, May 27: Mumbai Indians lifted the Indian Premier League title for the first time with a 23-run victory over a hapless Chennai Super Kings in the final, played in the shadow of the raging spot fixing scam amid reports that some more players could be arrested after the Eden Gardens game Sunday night (May 26).
The Mumbai Indians successfully defended a modest 148/9, to hold an error-prone Chennai batsmen to 125/9 and extract sweet revenge for their 22-run defeat to the same rivals in a summit clash three years back.
For Chennai, skipper MS Dhoni ploughed a lonely furrow (63 not out; 45 b 3×4 5×6), as he joined in the middle with half the side gone and only 36 on the board into the seventh over.
Dhoni began by playing cautiously, but hit three sixes in an attempt to turn the game, but in the end that was not enough.
The one-sided game, played before packed galleries at the iconic venue, saw the Chennai Super Kings batsmen mostly go out to poor shots, though opener Mike Hussey was unlucky to be at the wrong end of a beautiful yorker length delivery from Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga that swung back into the Australian.
Once Hussey got out, the floodgates were opened, and Malinga was on a hat-trick by claiming new man Suresh Raina with the next ball.
The Kings’ woes continued, as S. Badrinath needlessly edged an offering wide outside the off stump from Mitchell Johnson. Inside two overs, Chennai were 3/3.
Opener Murali Vijay, seeing the procession from the other end, tried to rectify the damage in the company of Dwayne Bravo, but the Trinidadian departed after picking up some boundaries with lofted strokes.
Ravindra Jadeja fell to another soft dismissal without bothering the scorer, reducing Chennai to 36/5 in the seventh over.
Vijay (18), who earlier got a “life” when he was dropped on 14, went back in the very next over, worsening Chennai’s position.
Earlier, backed by a spirited bowling and electric fielding, Chennai Super Kings restricted Mumbai Indians to a gettable total.
However, thanks to a quickfire unbeaten 60 from Kieron Pollard (32b 7×4 3×6), Mumbai recovered from a disastrous start to reach a position of respectability after opting to bat first.
Apart from Pollard’s blitzkrieg, only Ambati Rayudu (37) and Dinesh Karthick (21) made useful contributions. For Chennai, Dwayne Bravo (4/44) was the most successful bowler followed by Albie Morkel (2/12).
The big match did not have exactly the sort of build up that one would have expected it to have.
The raging spot fixing scam seemed to have pushed into the background the on-field happenings as the scandal snared cricketers, an administrator and a small time Bollywood personality.
What is worse, as the game was on, there came reports that a Delhi police team was in the city and three to four IPL players were likely to be arrested after the final match.
IANS
IPL 2013 Final Highlights: Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians in Kolkata
Category: Cricket News,IPL,IPL 2013 News,IPL Chennai Super Kings,IPL Highlights,IPL Match Results,IPL Mumbai IndiansKolkata, May 26: It was a night to remember for Mumbai Indians at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. MI were crowned the IPL 2013 champions after defeating two-time winners Chennai Super Kings by 23 runs in the final.
Chasing a target of 149, CSK were off to a disastrous start losing two wicket in as many balls in Lasith Malinga’s opening over. Poor shot selection from CSK batsmen led to their downfall.
With the innings in tatters at 58/8 in 11.3 overs, the match was virtually over. Captain MS Dhoni (63 not out) fought a losing battle in the end but his big hits were not enough. CSK were kept to 125/9 in 20 overs.
Earlier, Kieron Pollard’s 32-ball 60 not out helped Mumbai Indians to 148/9 in 20 overs
It was a shaky start for MI but Pollard’s hurricane innings towards the end ensured they had a good score.
Dwayne Bravo picked up the Purple Cap with four wickets tonight. He finished the tournament with 32 wickets, most by a bowler in a single IPL. Michael Hussey was the Orange Cap winner with 733 runs.
Here are the highlights (more…)
12-year-old fan questions Sreesanth in court
Category: Cricket News,IPL,IPL 2013 NewsNew Delhi, May 26: “Dear Tushaar, Please do pray for me!” That was the short message hastily scribbled by S Sreesanth for a 12-year-old fan who had come to the court on Sunday in the hope of meeting the Indian pacer accused in IPL spot-fixing scandal. Tushar kept standing behind Sreesanth during the over two-hour-long court proceedings and finally managed to exchange a few words with him, besides getting his autograph.
At the beginning of proceedings in the crowded courtroom, he repeatedly tried to catch a glimpse of the cricketer and managed to attract Sreesanth’s attention. “What’s up?” said Sreesanth as he turned around a little and shook hands with Tushar, an 8th grader of Air Force Bal Bharti School.
“Kya Yaar, spot fixing kyu kiya (Why did you do spot-fixing)?”, was the question that followed from this young fan in a hush-hush voice as the prosecutor and the defence counsel argued their case before the Metropolitan Magistrate. To this, Sreesanth whispered, “Yaar, maine nahi kiya (I did not do it).”
However, that was not enough for the kid, who kept asking questions and trying to understand from the mediapersons covering court proceedings as to how the advocates will defend Sreesanth. When the proceedings were about to get over, Tushar borrowed a piece of paper from one of the scribes and asked Sreesanth for an autograph.
The cricketer, however, said he was not allowed to give autographs as he is in police custody. On Tushar’s insistence, Sreesanth, once outside the court, took the piece of paper from him and wrote on it – “Dear Tushaar.. Please do pray for me!”, with his signature.
PTI
IPL 2013: 10 facts about the final at Eden Gardens
Category: Cricket Records,IPL,IPL 2013 NewsKolkata, May 26: After 75 matches spread across various venues and contested for more than 50 days, here we are for the final of IPL 2013. Two-time champions Chennai Super Kings will lock horns with Mumbai Indians at the Eden Gardens tonight at 8PM IST.
Here are the 10 things you need to know about the IPL 6 final
1. Chennai Super Kings are playing in their 5th final in six years, most by any team in IPL history
2. Kolkata’s Eden Gardens is hosting the final for the first time
3. Mumbai Indians are in the final for the second time
4. CSK have won the title twice, 2010 and 2011
5. Today’s match is a repeat of 2010 final. CSK had won that game by 22 runs in Mumbai
6. Michael Hussey has a chance to become the first Orange Cap holder to win the title. He is currently the leading run scorer with 732
7. Hussey can claim a record for most runs in a single edition if he scores 2 more. The maximum in one edition is 733 by Chris Gayle
8. CSK have lost 2 finals, in 2008 to Rajasthan Royals and in 2012 against Kolkata Knight Riders
9. Dwayne Bravo needs 1 wicket to take the Purple Cap. He has 28 so far and is tied with James Faulkner. However, Faulkner holds the Cap with better economy rate
10. This year’s head-to-head record between the finalists is 2-1 in favour of MI. They had beaten CSK in both league games (home and away). In playoffs, CSK had won
Fans want to see Sachin lifting IPL trophy
Category: Cricket News,IPL,IPL 2013 News,IPL Mumbai Indians
Kolkata, May 26: It rained best wishes for Mumbai Indians (MI) from Indians across the globe as they geared up to face Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League final here Sunday.
The diaspora supporting the ‘paltan’ have taken to microblogging to egg on the men in blue in the league final.
Twitter has been buzzing with “best of luck” tweets from the UK, the UAE and South Africa.
“On behalf of all MUMBAIKARS in the UK, sending our best wishes to MI paltan. May you be victorious today!!!,” chirped a fan from the United Kingdom.
Indians residing in the Gulf wanted to see master blaster Sachin Tendulkar lift the trophy.
Tweets like “Best wishes from all fans of UAE. We wanna see this time IPL trophy in Sachins hand. Best of luck,” and “On behalf of all MUMBAIKARS in the gulf, sending our best wishes to MI paltan. May you be victorious today!” were a constant on the ticker.
CSK players not involved in corruption: Fleming
Category: Cricket News,IPL,IPL 2013 News,IPL Chennai Super KingsKolkata, May 26: Facing calls for suspension from the IPL following the arrest of its ‘team principal’ on charges of betting, Chennai Super Kings team today sought to distance itself from the scandal saying their players and support staff were not involved in betting or spot-fixing.
With CSK in turmoil after its ‘team principal’ Gurunath Meiyappa, who is also the son-in-law of BCCI President N Srinivasan, was arrested by Mumbai Police yesterday on charges of betting, captain MS Dhoni did not turn up for the scheduled official press conference on the eve of the IPL summit showdown.
Instead, coach Stephen Fleming read out a statement, after apologising on behalf of Dhoni. “Firstly, apologies from the captain. With the rain, we decided to keep the team back at the hotel for the preparation for tomorrow’s match,” he said on Saturday (May 25).