The excitement grows big with IPL returning back to India after being held last time in South Africa. I’m sure every match is going to be nail bitters with thrilling finishes.

Here is the IPL 3 – 2010 Schedule for a quick lookup.

IPL 2010 – Session 3 – Schedule

Let’s see who becomes the champions this time!!!
Doubt not! I’m with Chennai Super Kings!!!

IPL 2009 – Match 47 – Chennai Super Kings Vs Mumbai Indians – Full Scorecard

Duminy compiled yet another 50 to take his side to a decent score

Sachin Tendulkar captain of Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to bat first. Sanath Jayasuriya and Bravo opened the innings. Morkel bowled a superb yorker to dislodge the off stump of Bravo in the first ball of third over. Duminy was the next man in. Poor fielding of Chennai Super Kings continued and they gave away two boundaries in two balls instead of singles. Jayasuriya break free during 5th over and hit 2 sixes and 2 fours. He lost his wicket in the last ball of powerplay trying to hit over the top after scoring quick 30 runs in 17 balls. Tyagi was the bowler and Raina pouched the catch at covers. Sachin joined Duminy to consolidate the Mumbai innings. During strategic break the score was 75/3. Raina took the wicket of Sachin immediately after the break. Muralidaran and Raina bowled some tight overs and conceded only 26 Runs in 5 overs after break. Dhoni missed an easy stumping chance of Nayar of the bowling of Raina.  Duminy played well and got yet another fifty in this IPL. He was runout by Morkel in the last over after scoring 62 runs in 54balls. Mumbai Indians just managed to score 147/5 in 20 overs. Chennai Super Kings bowled well to restrict Mumbai Indians to below 150.

Hayden and MS Dhoni ensured comfortable victory for Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings opened their innings with Parthiv Patel and big boss Haydos. Parthiv Patel got out lbw the first ball of the innings to purple cap holder slinger Malinga. Raina was the next batsman in and played aggressively scoring 20 runs in 12 balls including 2 big sixes. Bravo got the wicket of Raina. Hayden struggled to score runs and looked in all sorts of trouble. Chennai Super Kings just managed to score 56/2 in the first 10 overs with Hayden struggling at 15 in 28 balls. Kulkarni got the wicket of Badrinath after the strategic break and he scored 22 runs in 23 balls. Dhoni was the next man in. Hayden managed to score his first boundary of the match in the 13th over and this should suggest how much he struggled with the bat. But after that he got his touch and scored runs quickly with Dhoni. They took Chennai Super Kings to a 7 wicket victory with 5 balls to spare. Hayden was the man of the match for scoring 60 runs in 57 balls. MS Dhoni scored 19 runs from 21 balls.

With this loss Mumbai Indians now were out of the tournament and Chennai Super Kings ensured their place in semi finals. Now the competition is between 4 teams to find a place in semi finals.

IPL 2009 – Match 44 – Chennai Super Kings Vs Royal Challengers Bangalore – Full Scorecard

Kumble took the wicket of Mathew Hayden - turning point of the match

MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat on a good batting wicket. Vijay and Hayden opened the innings. Kumble bowled the tidy first over for just 4 runs. Hayden took the attack back to Bangalore scoring 16runs in the next over bowled by Vinay Kumar. Vijay was the first to go and he struggled for his 5 runs of 9 balls. Kallis got the wicket of Vijay in his first over and the 4th of the match, a wicket maiden over. The inform Raina couldn’t do much this time and got out in the second over of Kallis after scoring 13(10). Dhoni joined Hayden when the score was 48/2 in 5.4 overs. They played sensible cricket not giving away any chance to the opposition and took the score to 72/2 at strategic break. Dhoni got out to a stunning catch by van der Merwe and he scored 18(20). Hayden got out in the next over from Kumble to a good catch at midwicket. Hayden scored 60 runs in just 38 balls and the score was 101/4 in 13.2 overs. This wicket really turned things around for Royal Challengers as the other batsman struggled to score runs and got out in quick successions. Chennai Super Kings were bowled out for 129 in 19.4 overs. Kallis, Kumble and Vinay Kumar got 2 wickets each. Royal Challengers Bangalore fielded exceptionally well in this match.

Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar managed to score winning runs

A total of 130 is not going to be enough by any way in a 20-20 match, but Chennai Super Kings bowled well to take it to the last over of the match. Again some ordinary fielding let down them and they lost the match narrowly. Morkel bowled well and took the wicket of Kallis and Uthappa while Tyagi got the wicket of Dravid leaving Royal Challengers @ 30/3 after 5 overs. Kohli and Taylor played well and they put on 56 runs for the fourth wicket and pulled back things for Bangalore. Virat Kohli scored 38 runs in just 35 balls and was caught in mid wicket of the bowling of Balaji. Murali got the better of Boucher in the next over getting him out at the slips. In the next over Dhoni pulled a wonderful run out from no where. He stood like a doll without reacting while the throw was coming to him and van der Merwe foxed by Dhoni’s reaction, ran casually but just in the nick of time Dhoni pouched the ball knocked the bails off and Merwe was short by an inch. Taylor got out in the crucial last over when they needed just 5 runs in 6 balls. Vinay Kumar and Praveen Kumar scored the needed runs assisted by poor fielding from Raina and Balaji. Royal Challengers Bangalore won the match with 2 wickets and 2 balls to spare. Morkel bowled well for 2/13 in 4 overs. Taylor was the man of the match for his 46 runs of 50 balls.

With 2 more points Royal Challengers now have 12 points and opened up the table one again for the 6 teams to fight it out for the Semi Final spot.

IPL 2009 – Match 45 – Mumbai Indians Vs Rajasthan Royals – Full Scorecard

In the other match Rajasthan Royals won by 2 runs against Mumbai Indians, the second thriller of the day.

Quick cameo from Ravindra Jadeja helped Royals go past 140

Rajasthan Royals elected to bat first after winning the toss. Quiney and Smith opened the innings for Royals. Smith was dropped by Duminy when he was on 10. The opening stand lasted for 6.3 overs and gathered 43 runs. Harbhajan broke the partership picking up Smith caught by Duminy in deep midwicket. Smith scored 19 of 19. Yusuf Pathan was the next batsman and he scored quick runs, but got out just before the strategic break after scoring 17 from 14balls. At strategic break Royals were 66/2. Quiney and Jadeja played extremely well and took the score to 126 before Malinga cleaned up Quiney with a superb yorker. Quiney scored 51 in just 40 balls. Royals lost wickets in a hurry at the end trying to score quickly. Jadeja scored 42 from 32 balls. They lost 3 wickets in the last over of the match and could only manage 145/7 in 20 overs. Jayasuriya bowled the last over and got 2 wickets and gave away just 3 runs.

Mumbai Indians changed their opening pair. Bravo and Takavale opened the innings. But the move turned against them. Bravo got out for just 1 run of the bowling of Munaf Patel. Rahane came after the fall of first wicket. Takavale and Rahane struggled to score runs and they both got out for 18 and 3 resp. Mumbai lost 3 wickets and were struggling at 26/3 at the end of powerplay. Jayasuriya and Tendulkar joined together to consolidate the Mumbai Innings. They took the score to 54/3 at strategic break. Warne struck in the 11th over by taking the wicket of Jayasuriya who tried to clear the mid wicket but just managed to hole out to Yusuf Pathan who took a good catch diving forward. Duminy got out slicing the bouncer from Trivedi on to his stumps. Mumbai got themself into a difficult situation needing 66 runs from 6 overs. Jadeja came to bowl and conceded 18 runs including three concecutive straight drives by Sachin yielding 4 each. Warne took the crusial wicket of Sachin in his last over leaving Mumbai @ 103/6. Abishek Nayar played some blistering strokes and looked to take the game away from Royals. Mumbai needed just 14 runs in 12 balls. Nayar got himself runout at this point and he scored quick 35 in just 18 balls. Mumbai needed 4 runs in last 6 balls. They lost remaining three wickets in five balls and lost the game by 2 runs. Munaf Patel bowled exceptionally well to keep down the runs. Smart captaincy from Warne prevented Mumbai from winning the match.

Munaf Patel disturbing the bails to run out Malinga to win the match

Rajasthan Royal moved to third position with this thrilling victory and Mumbai Indians must will both their remaining matches to dream about semi finals.

IPL 2009 – Match 37 – Chennai Super Kings Vs Rajasthan Royals – Full Scorecard

Naman Ojha bowled by Morkel

Shane Warne won the toss and elected to bat first on a slightly slow pitch. Ojha got out early for a duck when the score was just 1. Smith and Asnodkar played without taking any risks. They put on 53 runs for the second wicket in 44 balls. Asnodkar scored 26runs before getting lbw of the bowling of Muralidaran. Rajasthan Royal were 61/2 at strategic break. Smith played without showing any aggression to score runs quickly. When he tried, he lost his wicket stumped by MS Dhoni of the bowling of Muralidaran. Ravindra Jadeja scored runs quickly and scored 27runs in 19balls. Expectations were high when Yusuf Pathan came to bat but he failed and just scored 7 runs. Rajasthan Royals couldn’t step up their run rate and just managed 140/7 in 20 Overs. Super Kings bowled exceptionally well to restrict Rajasthan Royals. Fielding was good except for a drop chance.

Badrinath in good form

Hayden and Vijay opened the innings for Chennai Super Kings. Vijay fell early trying to hit over the top, he missed the line of the ball completely and got out, lbw of the bowling of Trivedi. He scored 10 runs of 12 balls. In form Suresh Raina came in. He hit a six and four of consecutive deliveries and got out in the same over bowled by Amit Singh. Badrinath was promoted ahead of MS Dhoni, who looks to be in some trouble with his Right hand. Badrinath was slow to start with but found his touch as he hit a six and three fours of the over bowled by Harwood. That over cost 20 runs for Rajasthan Royals. Chennai Super Kings were under pressure needing 44 runs in 30 balls and the equation changed to run a ball after this big over from Harwood. Hayden and Badrinath played sensibly and they compiled 89 runs for the third wicket. Hayden was stumped down the leg side by Ojha. Hayden charged down the track and Warne fired it down the leg side, Ojha had to dive a long way and he crawled back to disturb the bails before Hayden could return back. Badrinath reached 50 runs in 38 balls. He continued his hitting and took Chennai Super Kings to the target of 141 runs with 10 balls to spare. He was named the Man of the Match for his 59 runs of 41 balls.

IPL T20 Points table after 37 League matches

IPL T20 – Points Table

Chennai Super Kings back to the top of the table with this comfortable victory against Rajasthan Royals. Chennai Super Kings lost all the matches against Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2008 and now its the other way so far.

Todays matches:

Mumbai Indians Vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Delhi Daredevils

IPL 2009 – Match 34 – Chennai Super Kings Vs Kings XI Punjab – Full Scorecard

MS Dhoni - the Captain Cool

Wicket of the first ball of the innings yet again! Badrinath opened the innings with Mathew Hayden and played the first ball into the hand of the third man try to slice it for a six. Irfan Pathan, the bowler, couldn’t belive and was extremely delighted, so as his team members. The excitement didn’t lasted long as Suresh Raina, the next batsman joined in the middle with Hayden and they started the fire works. Raina was dropped at point when he was 14, tough chance though. They put on 57 runs in the powerplay. Sangakkara missed a simple stumping chance of Hayden, who stepped down the track trying to hit Goel over the boundary, as he failed to collect the ball. Rain interrupted the play with the scorecard reading 68/1 in 7.3 overs. Play resumed after about 100min and the overs were reduced to 18 due to delay. Raina was caught at deep midwicket of the bowling of Chawla and he scored quick 32 runs in 20balls. Captain Dhoni came in and started scoring straight away. Hayden hit some huge sixes and scored his 50 in 44 balls. Dhoni on the other end played some splendid shots and they put on 100 for the third wicket in just 47balls. Hayden was caught at long on after hitting 3 sixes of the over of Shreesanth. He scored 89 runs in 58 balls. Hayden is now way ahead of other orange cap contenders. Dhoni went on to score his second fifty in two matches and remained not out on 56 of just 27 balls. Chennai Super Kings scored 185/3 in 18 overs.

Yuvraj disappointed as Kings XI Punjab lost the thriller

Kings XI Punjab needed 187 Runs to win as the target was revised by D/L method. 10.39/over was never going to be an easy task. I was expecting the Chennai SuperKings to win the match by a huge margin, but Katich, Jayawardane and Yuvaraj thought otherwise. The start wasn’t good for Punjab as they lost Shoal the second ball of the innings. Katich striked the ball cleanly and hit three concecutive sixes in the 5th over bowled by Gony. Kings XI Punjab scored 53/1 in their powerplay. Jakati the trump card of Dhoni in the last two matches worked yet again as he got the wicket of Goel, who just scored 14(20), caught on the second attempt by Gony. Yuvraj was the next man in. Katich looked terribly dangerous scoring 50 of just 24 balls. Balaji was brought into the attack and striked his first ball, taking the wicket of dangerous Katich. Gony fumbled yet again dropping the simple catch of Yuvaraj, who mistimed the ball from Muralitharan to long on. Jayawardane and Yuvraj batted well and they scored quick runs and pressures was back on Super Kings. Yuvraj hit morkel over midwicket and the ball ended up over the roof clearing 119meters, the biggest six of the tournament. Punjab needed 44 Runs in last 4 overs and it looked like they were going to make it with ease. Dhoni kept his cool and brought in the part time bowler Raina. Raina bowled extremely tight and turned the match back to Chennai Super Kings. He just conceded 8 runs of his 2 overs @ 4 runs per over, while other bowlers were over 10 runs per over. Balaji also bowled well not giving two many runs and Kings XI Punjab were short by 12 runs at the end of 18 overs. Yuvraj and Jayawarane played really well for their 58(36) and 44(25) resp., but smart move by Dhoni and good bowling by Raina at the end undid their efforts.

IPL T20 Points table after 34 League matches

IPL T20 – Points Table

Chennai Super Kings proved to be the strongest batting side of the Tournament and they got their 4th win in a row. With a strong run rate Chennai Super Kings now lead the table with 11 Points. Yet again the top team in the table has changed after a match.

Todays matches:

Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians desparately needs a win here to fancy their chances to the Semi Finals on the other hand a win for Delhi Daredevils means they will go the top of the points table.