IPL Match 25 RR V KKR & 26 DD V CSK

Rajasthan Royals 170 for 6 (Nair 44, Narine 2-28) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 160 for 6 (Uthappa 65, Gambhir 54, Watson 3-21, Tambe 3-26) by 10 runs

Gautam Gambhir had hoped Kolkata Knight Riders had learned from conceding winning positions in multiple matches this season, but losing six wickets for two runs after 70% of the target of 171 had been mowed down by a century stand between himself and Robin Uthappa indicated there was still a lot of work left to do. Rajasthan Royals were the beneficiaries this time as they recorded their fourth victory in five IPL matches in Ahmedabad.

An equation of 50 from the final six overs is not cause for alarm and Knight Riders had all 10 wickets in hand, but the events that unfolded at Motera were almost unfathomable. Shane Watson pried out Gambhir to tip the dominoes. An inexplicable promotion for Andre Russell did not last long and before the over ended three wickets were down. Pravin Tambe claimed a hat-trick off the first three balls of the next over to complete the worst collapse for the first six wickets in T20 history.

Before those nightmarish few minutes, Uthappa had cemented the team's belief in him by melding stability and enterprise together. His fluency allowed Gambhir to work himself into form. 

Both batsmen embraced percentage cricket, concentrating on keeping a straight face coming down on the ball. Uthappa used his feet to bolster his hits through and over mid-on while Gambhir peppered the cover boundary. It wasn't the most eye-catching innings but it was what Knight Riders needed from their captain and victory seemed more probable than the eventual outcome.

Suryakumar Yadav and Shakib Al Hasan were suddenly faced with a required rate over 11 in the final four overs. They swung and swiped and even enjoyed a couple of free hits but they could not muster the necessary pace. Having drained the wind from Knight Riders' sails, Watson returned to bowl an intelligent final over to finish things off. This is the second time a week that Royals have stolen a match from under Knight Riders' noses. Gambhir's men couldn't overhaul an equation of 16 of 12 and lost after the match was pushed into a Super Over.

After Royals were sent in, Karun Nair and Ajinkya Rahane found little trouble dealing with the early overs. The pitch was marked with patches of grass but no matter how much the KKR bowlers willed it, their search for movement was in vain. 

A few easy flicks to the square boundary on the leg side kickstarted their half-century partnership that was eventually undone by a run out. Nair's season had begun with two single-figure scores and he had to overcome a sluggish beginning during his half-century against Delhi Daredevils. But once he did, he showcased some effective shots and today he seemed to pick up where he had left off. A second successive fifty wasn't on the cards, though.

Sanju Samson, at No.3, ensured there was no loss in momentum with some smart shots to drive Royals past their hundred. Watson's proclivity to hit straight down the ground hinted at a big total on the horizon. Knight Riders pulled things back in the last four overs but the 35 runs that the home side managed during that period proved more than enough. 

Chennai Super Kings 181 for 2 (Smith 79, Raina 47*) beat Delhi Daredevils 178 for 5 (Karthik 51) by eight wickets

There had been a light, on-off drizzle right through the match, and it grew in intensity over the course of the Chennai Super Kings chase. Fifth ball of the 15th over, Suresh Raina aimed a big drive at a full, off-stump ball from Jaydev Unadkat and edged it past the wicketkeeper for four. Raina pumped his fist.

Super Kings were 127 for 1. They still needed 52 from 31 balls, but they had edged ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis par score. It would seesaw this way and that over the next few overs as the rain fell and the insects swarmed in the haloes around the floodlight towers. Super Kings were ahead after taking 14 off Wayne Parnell in the 16th over; Delhi Daredevils were back on top after a frugal 17th, bowled by Jaydev Unadkat.

Throughout that time, Super Kings were in control. They had only lost one wicket, and it soon became apparent the umpires would not take the players off the field. They had Raina at the crease; they had Dwayne Smith, who had already passed 50; they had MS Dhoni waiting to come in. In the end, they simply had too much batting firepower, even if they did suffer a small hiccup.

Super Kings seemed to have it wrapped up after they took 17 off the 18th over, bowled by Mohammed Shami. Bowling with both third man and fine leg in the circle, he sent down three poor deliveries: a short, wide ball that Smith was only too happy to slash behind square for four, followed by two long-hops that Smith pulled for six and four.

But it only took one wicket - Smith holing out in the penultimate over after a powerful 79 off 51 - for panic to set in, albeit momentarily, and show Daredevils what may have been had they possessed a more penetrative bowling attack. Despite conceding a boundary off the first ball, Wayne Parnell only gave up five from that over.

It left Super Kings needing 11 off the final over. Unadkat had the ball for Daredevils; Super Kings had Raina and Dhoni. It was an unequal contest in terms of Twenty20 pedigree and experience, and all it took was one ball in Dhoni's slot - the second of the over - for it to disappear over the long-on boundary and the equation to come down to four from four. There could only be one result from there.

At the toss, Dhoni had sent Daredevils in, contending that there was some moisture in the pitch and it would get better for batting as the game progressed. The first couple of overs of the Daredevils innings seemed to suggest he was right. Ben Hilfenhaus moved it around a bit, and Ishwar Pandey beat M Vijay three balls in succession in a maiden full of gorgeous outswingers.

But Quinton de Kock kept Daredevils chugging along, and he seemed to be able to hit cleanly through or across the line. This was rapidly becoming a good pitch to bat on. Delhi just seemed to have gotten past the difficult phase when they lost de Kock - to a needless run-out - and Kevin Pietersen, who played down the wrong line of what looked a straight ball from Mohit Sharma.

Vijay and Dinesh Karthik got out of rebuilding mode fairly quickly after that. Karthik played some stunning shots, including a paddled six off a Hilfenhaus full-toss, in a 36-ball 51 that provided Daredevils the perfect platform to launch off from. When Karthik was out, Delhi were 108 for 3 with seven overs remaining.

At that point, JP Duminy was expected to walk in. Or Kedar Jadhav, who had looked in sparkling form down the order in their previous games. Instead, it was Laxmi Shukla, who hadn't faced a single ball in the tournament. Starting with Karthik's dismissal, Daredevils lost three wickets in nine balls, just when they should have been flooring the pedal.

With Daredevils needing to rebuild once more, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja bowled four overs for 26 runs. Having got their eye in, Duminy and Jadhav took 44 from the last three - and were particularly severe on Mohit Sharma, who went for 35 in his last two - to push Daredevils to 178. No one knew at that point if it was a defendable total. Daredevils knew they would have to bowl to a fearsome batting line-up; they didn't know they would be doing so with a wet ball. 

IPL Match 24 RCB V SRH

Royal Challengers Bangalore 158 for 6 (de Villiers 89*, Karn Sharma 3-17) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 155 for 6 (Warner 61) by four wickets

Royal Challengers Bangalore possess the most power-packed batting line-up in the IPL. 

They hadn't fired in the UAE leg of the tournament, but now they were back in their natural habitat at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, home to one of the best batting decks and some of the shortest boundaries in the world. 

At the toss Virat Kohli said his team knew the venue intimately, and he backed his batsmen to chase any target.

On Sunday, against Sunrisers Hyderabad, they had to chase 156. No team chasing 156 or less had ever lost here.

Royal Challengers came close to doing that. They lost Parthiv Patel and Virat Kohli in the second over of their innings, and they lost Chris Gayle a little while after. Rilee Rossouw, sent in to bat at 6 for 2 on his IPL debut, was out after scoring 14 off 23. 

Yuvraj Singh then went for 14 off 16. Royal Challengers needed 61 from 33, and they were sinking.

But they still had AB de Villiers. They had an AB de Villiers who was getting down on one knee and launching anything remotely full over the straight boundary. When Yuvraj went, de Villiers was on 33 from 19, and had already struck three big sixes.

Two more sixes and a four came off the next over, bowled by Darren Sammy, but Dale Steyn and Bhuvneshwar Kumar pulled things back by conceding just 12 from the next two. On came Steyn again, with figures of none for 16 in three overs. Royal Challengers needed 28 from 12, and de Villiers was on strike.

The first ball, a slower ball, disappeared over deep square leg. The next went straight over the sightscreen. There are times when a batsman is simply seeing it too well, and there was nothing Steyn could do to stop de Villiers.

Two years ago, de Villiers had taken 23 runs off a Steyn over at the same ground. It became 23 for the over once again when de Villiers walked across his crease and scooped the last ball over the fine leg boundary and into the second tier of the stands.

Steyn applauded. It was that kind of shot. After de Villiers made the winning hit in the next over, swiping Irfan Pathan to the midwicket boundary, Steyn went up to de Villiers and embraced him. It was that kind of innings.

Until de Villiers intervened, the match had been short of such typically Bangalorean happenings. After losing two early wickets, Sunrisers took their time to get going, with Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner going at under seven an over during their partnership of 62.

Part of this was down to some tight bowling from the home team, with Yuzvendra Chahal proving particularly hard to get away. He slid the ball across the two left-handers at the crease, Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner, took care not to drop the ball into their hitting zones, and bowled a lot of googlies.

Chahal went for 13 in his last over, with Warner finally managing to get him away, but till then, his spell had asked uncomfortable questions of the theory that legspinners can't bowl to left-handers in Twenty20 cricket. 

Karn Sharma did more of the same when Royal Challengers batted, dismissing Gayle, Rossouw and Yuvraj - three left-handers - while going for just 17 in his four overs. Still, Sunrisers were probably right to have left out Amit Mishra, considering the pitch, the opposition, his own form, and the slower pace at which he bowls.

When Chahal finished his spell, Sunrisers were 106 for 3 after 15. Despite losing Darren Sammy in the next over, they added 49 in the last five, with Warner profiting from a spate of full-tosses from Ashok Dinda in the 18th. 

It still seemed like they hadn't put enough on the board, considering the venue and their opponents, and in the end Royal Challengers simply had one world-class batsman too many. 

IPL Match 23 DD V RR

Rajasthan Royals 156 for 3 (Nair 73*, Samson 34) beat Delhi Daredevils 152 for 5 (de Kock 42, Duminy 39, Tambe 2-25) by seven wickets

Rajasthan Royals produced one of their better batting performances this season to keep up the pace with the two league table leaders and no, the starring roles didn't feature Ajinkya Rahane or Shane Watson or Stuart Binny. 

There was one steadying hand played by Sanju Samson in the chase of Delhi Daredevils' middling total and a surprise promotion for Rajat Bhatia, but it was another young batsman, playing only his third game for the franchise, who reaffirmed his team's narrative of being a money-ball outfit. 

Karun Nair, the Karnataka batsman who had scores of 8 and 1 in his previous two outings, was conservative to start with, but opened up in the second half of his innings to hit an unbeaten half-century to see his team complete the chase comfortably.

A chase of 153 had tested Royals two years ago at the same ground when they had fallen a run short of Delhi Daredevils' total, but there were no such surprises this time round as Royals maintained a good pace in the first half of their innings before opening up in the second to reach the target with nine balls to spare. And in that first half, Nair had almost remained invisible in the shadow of Samson's strokeplay. 

He was on 29 off the first 30 balls he faced despite hitting three crisp boundaries. Maybe it was the dismissal of Samson or maybe it was the need to be assertive in the company of Bhatia who was sent to provide some thrust to the innings, Nair's second half was in complete contrast to the first. His next 20 deliveries produced 44 runs that included five fours and two sixes, the second of which could have done Watson proud for its disdain.

Watson joined Nair towards the end of the innings and hit a couple of sixes too, but his - or his team management's - decision of sending Bhatia ahead of better batsmen proved to be one of his more effective strokes. Bhatia can bat, but he has never played as high as No. 4 in the IPL. His cross-batted slogs were not the most pleasing to the eye, but just like his bowling, his stand of 44 runs in five overs with Nair quickly deflated Daredevils bowling, especially with the danger of a Watson still looming. And that stand just eased Watson's entry.

Unlike Royals, Daredevils batting had been a three-part story, all quite different from each other, but adding up well in the end into a competitive total. 

After being into the bat, Quinton de Kock and M Vijay were not really fussed by the frequent change of bowlers by Rajasthan Royals and made confident progress to add 33 for the first wicket before Vijay was caught at mid-off. The fall of wicket or the distractions involving the square-leg umpire, who let Kevin Pietersen off the hook by not reviewing a run-out call, didn't affect de Kock's approach as he went about picking his boundaries at a regular pace.

Daredevils were 68 for 1 when Pravin Tambe removed both de Kock, who was out caught and bowled, and Pietersen, who holed out at long-on, in the same over to signal the start of a period of Royals' dominance. 

Only 36 runs came in the next six overs and it took an enterprising effort from JP Duminy and Kedar Jadhav to lift Delhi out from that hole. Jadhav may have been lucky to get his first six - a top edge off James Faulkner - but none of his later shots were mishits. He finished the innings with a flourish, hitting one of the biggest sixes of the match in the last over and was unbeaten on 28 off 14 balls. 

Duminy as usual had played his part too in helping Delhi add 58 off the last five overs. It gave their bowlers a chance, but on a pitch that was a far cry from some of the slower surfaces Delhi has dished out in the past, it was always going to be a tough one to defend. 

IPL Match 22 KXIP V MI

Mumbai Indians 170 for 5 (Rohit 39, Anderson 35, Gautam 33, Pollard 28*) beat Kings XI Punjab 168 for 5 (Saha 59*, Maxwell 45) by five wickets

Back on home turf at Wankhede Stadium, the venue of their unbeaten run the previous year, Mumbai Indians' batsmen held their nerve at the death to give their franchise their first victory of the season in six attempts. Mumbai Indians needed 41 off the last three overs but Kieron Pollard and Aditya Tare catapulted their side home with five deliveries to spare and ended Kings XI Punjab's victorious five-game run.

The home side lost their openers cheaply before thirties from CM Gautam, Rohit Sharma and Corey Anderson revived them. The asking-rate climbed again after Rohit and Anderson departed in the 16th and 17th overs, but Pollard and Tare were around to ensure Mumbai Indians were not letting it slip away.

It was Tare who wrested back momentum for Mumbai Indians when he lofted L Balaji for four over extra cover and pulled him over deep midwicket for six in the 18th over, which went for 16. Kings XI had Mitchell Johnson for the 19th, and Pollard has often been found wanting against quality pace from the likes of Dale Steyn.

But the allrounder never let Johnson get on top, lifting the first ball of the over, a full delivery, for six over long-on. Johnson followed up with a wide down the leg side. Pollard ran twos off the next two deliveries before inside-edging a yorker for four. A pull to deep square leg for four more and a single to keep strike made it 20 off the over. Pollard completed formalities by launching Sandeep Sharma's first ball of the final over for six over long-off. He ended on 28 off 12 while Tare was unbeaten on 16 from 6.

Gautam and Rohit had come together at 23 for 2 after the openers departed to Sandeep's swing and added 47 in 41 before Gautam fell to Rishi Dhawan. Rohit and Anderson took a six each off Dhawan's next over but the real push Mumbai Indians needed came in the 13th over bowled by Akshar Patel. Anderson slogged the left-arm spinner for four consecutive boundaries, and the 20-run over brought down the asking-rate to eight-and-a-half from ten.

Kings XI fought back as Balaji, Johnson and Dhawan put in four tight overs, which earned the wickets of Rohit and Anderson. The rate shot up to nearly 14 after Dhawan completed his spell in the 17th, but Mumbai Indians had more ammunition in the form of Pollard and Tare.

They also had Lasith Malinga, who gave away just eight runs combined in the 18th and 20th overs of the Kings XI innings. It meant that despite taking 20 off the penultimate over - bowled jointly by Zaheer Khan and Pollard after the left-armer left the field midway clutching his shoulder - Kings XI were not able to have the big finish they needed.

Their innings went similarly as Mumbai Indians' was to, barring that final surge. The openers could not do much before Glenn Maxwell and Wriddhiman Saha rebuilt. Even as Saha struggled to rotate the strike, Maxwell kept hitting fours and sixes with ease. He had motored to 45 off 26 before he mishit Harbhajan Singh to long-on.

George Bailey's move to promote himself ahead of David Miller did not work. Saha took over now, moving from 12 off 23 to 59 off 47, sweeping and pulling Pollard for three fours in the 14th over. His acceleration wasn't enough in the end. 

IPL Match 21 CSK V KKR

Chennai Super Kings 148 for 3 (McCullum 56) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 114 for 9 (Uthappa 47, Jadeja 4-12) by 34 runs

The Chennai Super Kings playbook has one abiding formula: a top-order contribution, a blitz from the finishers and a strangle by the spinners. Brendon McCullum took care of objective one with his third half-century in five matches, MS Dhoni swung his bat around to lift the total to 148 in a rain-reduced match and Ravindra Jadeja swindled 4 for 12 to down Kolkata Knight Riders with ease.

Robin Uthappa, who opened for Knight Riders, posed the greatest threat with his execution matching his intent. He crunched four fours and a six on either side of losing his partner Gautam Gambhir in the third over. He was conscious to use his feet, unafraid of going aerial and the reverse sweep was a trusted weapon as well. But his strokeplay coincided with a dreadful collapse at the other end. 

The introduction of spin left Knight Riders at 39 for 4 at the end of the Powerplay, too deep a hole to escape from no matter how long Yusuf Pathan managed to biff the ball down the ground. 

The Jadeja-Ashwin combine plucked three wickets in five balls and Knight Riders' middle order was broken inside the powerplay. Uthappa waged his battle until he became Jadeja's fourth victim to hand the left-arm spinner with the best figures of the season.

India's leg of the IPL was delayed by an hour of 40 minutes in the face of an unseasonal shower in Ranchi that limited the game to 17 overs a side. Knight Riders utilised spin for the entirety of the powerplay and were encouraged with some help from the pitch. But a persistence in pushing the balls through allowed McCullum to settle and shepherd Super Kings past the loss of Dwayne Smith in the third over.

Piyush Chawla was particularly adamant in refusing to flight the ball. Suresh Raina and McCullum had no qualms with that as they joined hands for a brisk 70-run stand for the third wicket. The introduction of pace did little to stem the run flow as Vinay Kumar fed McCullum with a steady diet of short balls that thudded into the midwicket boundary. The five over spell from the eighth and 12th overs yielded 51 runs for one wicket. 

Sunil Narine was his usual miserly self and Super Kings seemed to be running out of gas in the final overs, especially when McCullum was caught in the deep for 56. But some initiative and wayward bowling from Andre Russell, who was brought in for Morne Morkel, allowed the home side to finish on a high.

Those extra runs ensured Yusuf's late pummeling was inconsequential. He blazed three sixes in the penultimate over and each of them gave the fielder no chance. Knight Riders would hope the next time he wields the long handle, the equation will not read 59 off 12. 

IPL Match 20 SRH V MI

Sunrisers Hyderabad 172 for 5 (Warner 65, Rahul 46) beat Mumbai Indians 157 for 7 (Pollard 78, Pathan 2-10, Steyn 2-20) by 15 runs

Sunrisers Hyderabad gritted their teeth nearly 10 overs without a boundary. David Warner was muzzled so profoundly that he was striking under 100 as late as the 15th over. But then he woke up. He used the slow start as a foundation and collected a half-century that proved the difference. But his patience might have been a mere footnote had Irfan Pathan not delivered a brilliant final over. 

He had 20 to defend and the first ball of sneaked through Kieron Pollard's defences and seeing the back of a man who hit 78 off 47 balls is usually enough to seal the game, and it was. Pathan only gave away four runs.

Mumbai Indians were flummoxed by the pace and swing of Dale Steyn and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The asking rate rose north of 10 in the 5th over and at 31 for 3, recovery seemed a remote possibility. Only no one had bothered to clue Pollard in. 

After a jittery start, he remembered his penchant for brutality. Amit Mishra, a far cry from the one that turned up for India in the World T20, was razed for 27 in the 17th over. Rohit Sharma, who was confident today was the game Mumbai would pull off their much-needed turnaround, began contemplating an improbable victory. But much to the birthday boy's chagrin, his side just ran out of juice.

Sunrisers were conscious of their batsmen needing to provide better cover to their bowlers, and opted for Naman Ojha and Irfan to add depth. Ojha smashed the final two balls of the innings for fours and Irfan shouldered the burden of bowling the 16th and the 20th overs with consummate proficiency. Slower balls, yorkers and a refusal to hand width highlighted his two-over spell which ensured Steyn's fearsome bursts and Bhuvneshwar's control were not in vain.

In between though, Mishra braced against a clobbering at the hands of Pollard. The 13th over was biffed for 19 runs and signalled the first challenge from Mumbai. A daunting 87 off 42 was being chipped away. It didn't seem to matter whether Mishra gave the ball air or fired it in, Pollard revved up and mauled five of his six sixes off the legspinner, who ended with 0 for 54.

At the other end, Ambati Rayudu ensured he wasn't lost in the slipstream during a 77-run stand for the fourth wicket. The equation was diluted to 31 off the final three overs, but that was when Sunrisers dug deep. Steyn, as ever, delivered when it mattered, ceding only four runs in the 18th, and Bhuvneshwar just seven in the next, to put Sunrisers ahead going into Irfan's final over.

Sunrisers' batting resources were lumped too tightly at the top and an early wicket prompted a change of tactic. KL Rahul's technical correctness was banked on to minimise the damage. Mumbai were adamant on not giving the batsmen any room and their fielders were no shy of hurtling after the ball if it was anywhere near their vicinity. They were desperate.

Rahul blunted the challenge, placing faith in his footwork against spin and nudges around the ground to keep the scoreboard ticking. He knew Warner was better equipped to lead the charge.

Harbhajan Singh did his best to plant doubts, constantly foiling Warner's attempts to blaze away in the early goings with a remarkable control of flight and line. Warner fronted 16 balls from the offspinner and could summon only nine runs. But as the death overs came, Warner found his touch. Batting both right- and left-handed, he inspired Sunrisers to crash 73 in the last six overs.

Pragyan Ojha was carted repeatedly over midwicket and the partnership with Rahul blossomed to 101 - Sunrisers' second hundred-plus stand of the season and that was the partnership that forced Mumbai into a position of having to win almost all of their matches in the India leg to progress in the tournament. 

IPL Match 19 RR V KKR

Rajasthan Royals 152 for 5 (Rahane 72) tied with Kolkata Knight Riders 152 for 8 (Gambhir 45, Faulkner 3-11)

Super Over Rajasthan Royals 12 tied with Kolkata Knight Riders 12 but won the match on a higher boundary count

A few days ago, individual brilliance from Chris Lynn had given Kolkata Knight Riders a win from nowhere, which sparked wild celebrations. Today they experienced what it was like to be on the receiving end of such an unexpected result. 

Knight Riders needed only 16 off 12 balls with six wickets in hand, when their middle and lower order capsized against James Faulkner in the penultimate over.

Shakib Al Hasan forced the match into a Super Over and Knight Riders would have been confident of Sunil Narine defending 12. But with three needed to win off the last ball, Steven Smith played a smart dab into the vacant space at extra cover and ran an easy two, levelling the match again and taking Rajasthan Royals to a thrilling win on the basis of a greater number of boundaries scored in the match.

For Knight Riders, it should have never come to that stage. Faulkner hadn't had the best of times in this year's IPL and was benched for a match after ordinary outings in his first three games, but bowled an inspirational over to turn the game on its head.

Cameos from Suryakant Yadav and Shakib had almost brought Knight Riders on the doorstep of a smartly constructed innings and a win seemed there for the taking. They had added 49 runs in 26 balls. Then, Faulkner's slower balls, so effective last year, made a sparkling re-entry.

Yadav, looking for a big hit, sliced the first ball of the 19th over to long-off to fall for a 19-ball 31. It was still Knight Riders' game, but Faulkner's fourth and fifth deliveries proved to be the icing on his birthday cake as Robin Uthappa and Vinay Kumar missed straight deliveries to be bowled. Six balls, three wickets and 12 off nine became 12 off 6. 

With Shakib still around, Knight Riders still had some chance - they kept up with the task as Shakib squeezed out a boundary off the first ball off the last over. Kane Richardson didn't bowl the best of overs, serving leg-side balls and half-volleys. Shakib too, failed to connect properly again in the over, but managed to tie the game. However, Smith's presence of mind on the last delivery of the Super Over that won them two points showed Royals were in no mood to spoil Faulkner's birthday party.

One of the heartening side stories for the Knight Riders to emerge despite the loss was Gautam Gambhir's return to form. Gambhir didn't set the stage on fire - the slower Abu Dhabi pitch was never going to allow that sort of strokeplay and that's not Gambhir's game anyway - but his 45 from 44 deliveries was ideal platform for the middle-order strokemakers.

Such had been the drought that Gambhir would have been satisfied with anything of substance; he had hardly spent any time in the middle. Instead, he ended up playing the solid knock that was needed at the top of the order following the same template Ajinkya Rahane, who top-scored with 72, had set in the first half of the match. A pull shot off the gentle medium pace of Stuart Binny didn't run to the boundary but was the ideal tonic for a sagging spirit.

Once he had played a few balls though, Gambhir was in familiar territory, comfortably nudging the ball in the gaps and using his feet to the slower bowlers. Familiar with Rajat Bhatia's tricks, Gambhir handled his Delhi teammate with ease, once using his feet to carve a slower delivery over extra cover in trademark fashion. But he was caught in the boundary to a sweep shot, five short of his half-century. His team's fate followed a similar course. 

IPL Match 18 KXIP V RCB

Kings XI Punjab 127 for 5 (Sehwag 32) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 124 for 8 (Yuvraj 35, Sandeep 3-15) by five wickets

In a game crippled by poor batting, Royal Challengers Bangalore limped to 124 and Kings XI Punjab were in danger of failing to chase that middling total, before they hung on to win by five wickets and leave the UAE with their fifth win in as many games. 

Chris Gayle, playing his first game of the season, and the rest of his team-mates failed to show up for the second game in a row and Royal Challengers lost seven wickets inside 15 overs. Kings XI also had their moments of anxiety at 88 for 5, but Rishi Dhawan and George Bailey completed the chase with seven balls to spare.

Royal Challengers showed poor game sense from the beginning, starting from Gayle's unusual approach of going ballistic from ball one. Gayle was forced to sit out the first four games due to injury and in the urge to make up for lost time, hammered 20 off the opening over by Glenn Maxwell, though not in the most convincing manner. 

But when attempting to dish out the same treatment to Sandeep Sharma the following over, he played one impetuous stroke too many and that started a slide Royal Challengers never recovered from.

Sandeep, the right-arm seamer, gets prodigious inswing and that helped in trapping Gayle and Virat Kohli, though he was lucky to get the latter. The swing took the ball past leg stump when the ball struck Kohli's pads but Billy Bowden was convinced it was hitting the stumps. A horrified Kohli trudged back after a pause, and the scowl hardly left his face through the game.

The top order fell to some inspired seam bowling from Sandeep and Mitchell Johnson who pitched the ball up and induced edges. AB de Villiers failed to take charge of the innings as he tamely lobbed the ball to backward point off Dhawan. 

The responsibility fell on the inconsistent Yuvraj Singh, and though he showed glimpses of his old self with his on-side flicks, he too fell to a poor shot. He pulled a short ball and found David Miller at deep midwicket with pin-point precision. It was a questionable shot, given the circumstances. Yuvraj was the last recognised batsman and Royal Challengers were three short of 100 with more than five overs to play.

The loss of wickets dried up the boundaries. Incredibly, Royal Challengers failed to score a boundary off the last seven overs, with only two instances of the ball crossing the ropes, via leg byes.

With a paltry 124 to defend, Royal Challengers needed quick wickets. Two brilliant catches at fine leg by Mitchell Starc gave them hope. A pick up shot by Wriddhiman Saha nearly cleared the rope but Starc hung on despite covering several yards near the edge of the rope. Maxwell tried the same shot but Starc this time hung on, diving forward. Maxwell's wicket gave Royal Challengers hope but for the second time in as many games, Kings XI managed without him.

Miller and Virender Sehwag kept Kings XI on track with a stand of 45. However, a double-strike by the legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal added a twist. Miller edged a googly, Sehwag was adjudged caught behind as well but replays showed he hadn't nicked it. It left Kings XI at a edgy 88 for 5, but they still held the edge thanks to a comfortable required rate of 5.28 and depth in batting.

Dhawan eased the nerves with a square cut for four off Dinda and a dab to third man off Yuvraj. The captain Bailey played second fiddle and the pair sealed the win in the 19th over. Royal Challengers succumbed to their third loss, and will need a quick turnaround once the tournament returns to India. 

IPL Match 17 SRH V CSK

Chennai Super Kings 146 for 5 (Smith 66, McCullum 40) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (Finch 44, Mohit 2-27) by five wickets

It seemed at the halfway point that Chennai Super Kings would face a challenging chase. Two big overs at the death had propelled Sunrisers Hyderabad to 145 on a slow Sharjah pitch, which had seemed difficult to play big shots on. Sunrisers had gone into the match with five specialist bowlers, each different from the other, all of them capable of exploiting the conditions.

But as early as the first over of Super Kings' innings, delivered by Dale Steyn, something seemed to have changed. Dwayne Smith only took six runs off it, but he middled every ball, despite Steyn delivering most of them with a scrambled seam.

After a close shave in the next over, off Bhuvneshwar Kumar, when the ball narrowly missed the top of middle stump after hitting his inside edge, Smith continued timing the ball beautifully, raced away to a 46-ball 66, and put on 85 for the first wicket with Brendon McCullum, who was hitting it just as crisply. Dew had come into play, and the ball was coming nicely on to the bat.

When Super Kings lost Suresh Raina, they had eight wickets in hand and 36 balls in which to get 32 runs against a Sunrisers attack that was reaching for the towel stuck in the umpire's waistband with increasing frequency. The chase seemed well in control.

Just then, when everything was stacked against them, Sunrisers came back into the game. Suresh Raina mistimed a big hit off Ishant Sharma, turning a poor over into a reasonable one. Bhuvneshwar Kumar took two wickets in one over, including a lucky break when Smith hit a full-toss straight to long-off. Steyn bowled a superb last over, giving away just four, and Bhuvneshwar followed it up by giving away just five in the next one.

Ishant Sharma, who had gone for 33 in his first three overs, got his leg-cutter to work all of a sudden, bowling Ravindra Jadeja off his pads and beating Mithun Manhas twice in two balls. Four runs off that over left Super Kings needing six off the last over.

Sunrisers hadn't used anyone apart from their five specialist bowlers, and they stuck with that plan, handing Amit Mishra the task of bowling the last over. 

Only two runs came off the first two balls, but the dew, the pressure of defending four off four balls, and the fact that MS Dhoni was on strike came together for a high full-toss to slip out of Mishra's fingers. Dhoni swatted it away to the midwicket boundary, and a result that had seemed a formality five overs earlier had now belatedly come to pass.

Having chosen to bat, Sunrisers never recovered after losing two wickets inside the first three overs. 

Shikhar Dhawan pulled Ben Hilfenhaus straight to the midwicket fielder, and David Warner fell victim to a poor umpiring decision two balls later.

The ball, from Ben Hilfenhaus, was short, pitched well outside leg stump, and hit Warner high on the pad with the batsman on the hop. Umpire Vineet Kulkarni gave it out, and Super Kings had sent back two-thirds of Sunrisers' heavy artillery. The third member of that trio, Aaron Finch, was now forced into circumspection.

Super Kings' bowlers, for their part, did everything in their power to make life difficult for the batsmen. Their three seamers, Mohit Sharma in particular, made clever use of the slower ball, and the best strategy against R Ashwin's around-the-wicket line, at times, seemed to be to let the ball go and hope for wides. No one, barring Ravindra Jadeja on a couple of occasions, gave the batsmen any width.

Finch and KL Rahul put on 52 at just over a run a ball, and Venugopal Rao made 13 off 15 before he was out off the last ball of the 15th over. Sunrisers were 98 for 4, and their hopes of getting to a competitive total rested on Finch and Darren Sammy. 

Finch fell in the 18th over, foxed by one of Mohit's back-of-the-hand offerings, but Sammy and Karn Sharma tonked 36 off the last 16 balls to propel the score to 145. It shouldn't have been, considering how much of an effect the dew was to have, and it wasn't in the end, but they almost made it look like a big enough total. 

IPL Match 16 DD V MI

Delhi Daredevils 126 for 4 (Vijay 40, Malinga 2-17) beat Mumbai Indians 125 for 6 (Pollard 33*, Unadkat 2-29) by six wickets

Mumbai Indians have John Wright as their head coach, Anil Kumble as their team mentor, Jonty Rhodes as fielding coach, Sachin Tendulkar as an 'icon' and Robin Singh as assistant coach. Ricky Ponting was added to that list of illustrious names today, joining as an advisor. The expansion of the brains trust didn't result in a change in fortunes, as Mumbai went down for their fourth defeat in a row after their batting misfired yet again.

Delhi Daredevils may not have any superstar in their bowling ranks, but they combined to stifle Mumbai on a slow surface in Sharjah. Mumbai scores so far in this tournament have been 122 for 7, 115 for 9 and 141 for 7. To that sorry list, they added 125 for 6 today, again giving their bowlers too little to work with.

Things didn't go according to plan right from the start for Mumbai. The plan to push Rohit Sharma to the top of the order in place of the struggling Michael Hussey didn't work as Rohit was run-out by a Mohammed Shami direct hit in the second over. The ploy to have allrounder Corey Anderson at No. 3 seemed to be working a touch better as he hit two muscular boundaries, before finding man in the deep. Aditya Tare had already done the same.

Ambati Rayudu, an influential member for Mumbai in recent seasons, couldn't make an impact this time, poking around for a 21-ball 14. Perhaps the biggest surprise in the Mumbai batting has been the absent form of the ultra-consistent Michael Hussey, who had another forgettable outing before being undone by a slower yorker from Jaydev Unadkat. Perhaps the time has come to drop Hussey.

CM Gautam played sweeps and reverse-sweeps to make an enterprising 18-ball 22 and Kieron Pollard overcame a slow start to unleash a couple of monster sixes and lift Mumbai's run-rate above six.

Daredevils' spinners have been one of their weaknesses this season, but Shahbaz Nadeem and JP Duminy proved hard to get away on the sluggish pitch where the ball didn't come on to the bat. The lack of pace worked for medium-pacer Laxmi Shukla as well, and he troubled Pollard in particular.

Daredevils have a formidable top five, and the target of 126 was never going to be a problem unless there were plenty of early wickets. The openers, Quinton de Kock and M Vijay, provided a steady start with Vijay going on to top score with 40. Hussey took a stunner at point to dismiss de Kock, Lasith Malinga got rid of the in-form JP Duminy, and though there were a few anxious moments for Daredevils, Mumbai never really looked like posing a serious challenge. It gave Daredevils their second win in five matches so far. 

IPL Match 15 KXIP V KKR

Kings XI Punjab 132 (Sehwag 37, Chawla 3-16, Narine 3-24) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 109 (Suryakumar 34, Sandeep 3-21) by 23 runs

Glenn Maxwell and David Miller failed for the first time this season, but that didn't prevent Kings XI Punjab from extending their winning streak to four this year, and seven overall. Sandeep Sharma had the new ball curling around, Akshar Patel showed why he is the most economical left-arm spinner in the tournament, Rishi Dhawan also kept it tight before the spearhead Mitchell Johnson finished off the job.

It wasn't a vintage game of Twenty20 cricket, as none of the batsmen could time the ball on a surface on which the heavyweight batting line-up of Royal Challengers Bangalore had been shot out for 70 in the afternoon.

On a green track with plenty of cracks in it, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir had hoped it would be easier to bat under lights, but his decision to bowl first backfired as the ball jagged around after sunset. Set a seemingly straightforward target of 133, Knight Riders lost wickets regularly and, though Suryakumar Yadav briefly threatened to take the game close, wound up well short.

The pillars of the Knight Riders squad when the teams were revamped in 2011, Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan, continued to have miserable seasons. Gambhir pushed himself down to No. 3 after three zeroes in a row, but nearly had a golden duck again, only for Sandeep to put down a difficult, diving return catch. There was further relief for Gambhir as he got a single to fine leg to score his first run of the tournament, but minutes later he handed a catch to short extra cover.

If Gambhir's IPL troubles have been confined to this season, Yusuf has struggled to recapture the heights of the first cycle of the tournament. Once again he looked woefully out of touch, lbw for 3 after being bringing his bat down late on a Rishi Dhawan delivery. He rarely bowls these days, and isn't the quickest in the field either, all of which combine to put his place under serious scrutiny.

Knight Riders openers couldn't get any momentum against Sandeep and Johnson, with both dismissed for single-digit scores. Chris Lynn couldn't recreate the form that yielded a quickfire 45 in his first game of the season earlier this week, and Knight Riders' chances were nearly extinguished once Robin Uthappa was run-out by a precise throw from George Bailey at cover in the 13th over. Knight Riders were 62 for 6, looking for a miracle. It didn't arrive.

They wouldn't have expected to be in that position after the performance of their bowlers. Knight Riders' decision to bring in Piyush Chawla for Vinay Kumar, who bowled them to a last-over win two days ago, paid off as Chawla bamboozled Virender Sehwag with a googly, and benefited from the long boundaries in Abu Dhabi by getting big guns Miller and Bailey caught in the deep.

Chawla's intervention came after some hostile new-ball bowling from Morne Morkel, who tormented the Indians in the top order with his 90-plus mph deliveries, and got the prized scalp of Maxwell with a legstump yorker. Kings XI collapsed from 101 for 4 to 126 all out against the wiles of Chawla and Sunil Narine, who took three in an over. It didn't matter, though, as Knight Riders' batting woes continued. 

IPL Match 14 RR V RCB

Rajasthan Royals 71 for 4 (Starc 2-29) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 70 (Tambe 4-20, Richardson 2-18) by six wickets

Two days ago, Virat Kohli conceded Royal Challengers Bangalore blew a winning position against Kolkata Knight Riders. 

His side were forced into an encore of that performance by Rajasthan Royals this afternoon, minus the winning-position part. Within the first 14 deliveries of the match, they lost four wickets, including those of AB de Villiers and Yuvraj Singh. Just past the halfway stage of their innings, they lost their last realistic hope - Kohli. 

From 46 for 7, it was somewhat of an achievement to move past the lowest IPL total of 58, but there was no getting back in the game. Royal Challengers posted 70, the third-worst score in the IPL, and Royals completed the formalities for the loss of four wickets.

After Kohli was asked to bat, he said he would have done that anyway had he won the toss. What was to follow, however, wouldn't have figured even in his worst nightmare.

 This was a pitch with something for the bowlers. There was some seam and bounce, and also a bit of swing. But considering the kind of shots Royal Challengers played, they would have been in trouble on almost any surface.

A couple of dots in the opening over were enough for Yogesh Takawale to charge out and heave at Stuart Binny, only to edge a gentle outswinger to the keeper. Kohli walked in and took a wicket off his first ball. His call for a single following a push to off was so late Parthiv Patel, not the best of runners, had little chance of making it across.

Yuvraj Singh had a nervy seven-ball stay. He was beaten a couple of times by Tim Southee, and almost yorked himself. Then Kane Richardson trotted in and sent down a 129.6 kph outswinger. And Yuvraj promptly followed it and tickled it to second slip.

At 5 for 3, Royal Challengers had their best pair in the middle to combat the crisis. Instead, AB de Villiers played on first ball, attempting a half-hearted back-foot punch without having the width. Kohli needed someone to just last for a few overs. But that was asking for too much.

Three quiet overs later, Sachin Rana played on to Shane Watson in the same manner as de Villiers. Albie Morkel is used to coming in at the death to try and hit his big sixes, but even the Powerplay was not over yet this time. His second ball against spin, Morkel went for a big six, and holed out off a googly from Pravin Tambe.

Kohli must have surely been fuming inside, but the very next ball, he calmly swatted Tambe for four through extra cover. First ball of the next over, he stepped out and lifted Southee over mid-on. That was about as close as Royal Challengers were coming to a fightback. In Tambe's next over, Kohli received a half-tracker and pulled it straight to midwicket.

Mitchell Starc and Ravi Rampaul helped their side move past 58, before Tambe wrapped up the innings to end with 4 for 20, his best IPL figures. The RCB pair bowled their hearts out, but by the time Starc reduced Royals to 36 for 3, they were already more than half way to their target. 

IPL Match 13 CSK V MI

Chennai Super Kings 142 for 3 (McCullum 71*) beat Mumbai Indians 141 for 7 (Rohit 50, Mohit 4-14) by seven wickets

Keep your competition buried when they are down, say some. Chennai Super Kings, led by Mohit Sharma's best IPL figures and Brendon McCullum's second half-century in four matches, cemented their position near the top of the table with a crushing win against defending champions Mumbai Indians, who are yet to register a win.

Chennai Super Kings had been alternating between good bowling and good batting performances in their previous three matches. In their fourth one though, they were strong with both bat and ball. As Mumbai Indians eyed a late surge in the last five overs, but they lost their set batsmen, Rohit Sharma and Corey Anderson, in quick succession, before Mohit cleaned up the middle order in just one over to end up with figures of 4 for 14.

At the break of the innings, Mohit said it wouldn't be an easy chase for the batsmen of his side on the slow pitch. The way Dwayne Smith and McCullum played the first two overs suggested the Super Kings openers had taken Mohit's advice seriously; only two runs came. However, with the words of their top performer honoured, Smith switched to his usual modus operandi, hitting three sixes in the next seven balls, all straight hits.

Once the chase was set in motion though, it was McCullum who took the front seat, blitzing powerful boundaries through extra cover and midwicket off successive Zaheer Khan deliveries. The sight of his fellow countryman Corey Anderson seemed to charge him up even more as he used his incredible bat speed to power three boundaries through the cover region.

With 51 runs in the Powerplay, Mumbai Indians only chance in the match was to somehow dismantle the strong batting order. They did get a sniff as Smith and Suresh Raina departed in successive overs. That was to have no effect on McCullum though, who, apart from giving respect to Lasith Malinga, kept on peppering the boundary regularly off other bowlers and brought up his second half-century in four matches for Super Kings, in 38 balls.

Super Kings were almost level with Mumbai Indians' score at the 15-over stage, but they were in no mood to commit the same errors and cantered past the target with an over to spare.

Mumbai Indians had much to thank Rohit and Anderson, who revived the innings with a measured 84-run stand for the third wicket after the early loss of their openers. Both batsmen found it tough to push the scoring early on. A six by Anderson off the last ball of the 10th over signalled some intent, but the scoring rate still lingered below six an over.

Rohit picked up the scoring from there on though, smacking a couple of sixes over the leg side as 51 runs came off the next five overs. But all hopes of a late surge were dashed once Super Kings got an opening at the dismissal of Anderson. 

Rohit, immediately after reaching his first half-century as Mumbai Indians captain, was caught in the deep off Hilfenhaus and Mohit, in the 19th over of the innings, burst the balloon with three wickets, all with superbly controlled slower balls. The final total of 141 was 10 to 15 runs short of what Mumbai Indians would have eyed a one stage. 

IPL Match 12 SRH V DD

Sunrisers Hyderabad 184 for 1 (Finch 88*, Warner 58*) beat Delhi Daredevils 180 (Vijay 52, de Kock 48) by four runs

Sunrisers Hyderabad's batting eggs are all in their top-order basket. In their two previous games, the top three - Aaron Finch, Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner - had failed to fire, and so they lost. Today, all three batsmen came good and the upshot was a narrow victory that earned Sunrisers their first points of the season.

Finch and Dhawan had an opening partnership of 56 in 6.2 overs, racking up Sunrisers' best Powerplay score in the process. There were no more wickets for Delhi Daredevils after Dhawan fell. Warner joined Finch for a 128-run stand in 13.4 overs with both batsmen making power-packed half-centuries to post 184.

Daredevils had themselves to blame for conceding so many because they dropped three catches. On 26, Dhawan cut Wayne Parnell straight to Manoj Tiwary at point and was reprieved. 

Parnell's anguish was evident because his previous three deliveries - all of them short - had been cut and heaved for four, six and four. Warner was dropped second ball - before he had scored - by the wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik off spinner Shahbaz Nadeem; he was on 31 when Tiwary put down a skier at point, off Parnell. Had those chances been taken, the likelihood of Sunrisers achieving their best ever IPL total was remote.

Finch's innings had no such blemish. He did not shred the attack right from the start; in fact his first 35 balls brought him only 41 runs. The highlight of that period was a one-handed six over extra cover off JP Duminy. Finch was off balance when he made contact but had the conviction to go through with the shot.

He cut loose in the 16th over, with three consecutive boundaries off medium-pacer Laxmi Ratan Shukla, and passed 50 off his 37th delivery. He bettered that effort in the 18th over, punishing Jaydev Unadkat for four successive boundaries, and set Sunrisers on course for a formidable total. And just when Unadkat threatened to complete an efficient final over, Finch hit the final ball into the stands beyond midwicket, to finish with 88 off 53 balls.

While Finch batted fluently right through, Warner converted a slow start into a punchy half-century. 

Soon after he was dropped second ball, he clouted Duminy over the straight boundary, but slowed down again. From 8 off 5 balls, Warner plodded to 18 off 27, until Parnell bowled him a leg-side full toss that he smashed for four. And then the boundaries flowed and Warner's touch was so good that he could switch-hit another full toss, from Mohammad Shami, for six over third man.

Despite facing a daunting total, Delhi did not want for momentum. Their openers Quinton de Kock and M Vijay added 99 in 11.2 overs, scoring with ease off pace and spin alike. 

Dale Steyn had caused no problems in his first two overs either. Both openers fell in quick succession, though, leaving two brand new batsmen with the challenge of scoring 82 off 46 balls.

Kevin Pietersen, playing his first game of the season after recovering from a hand injury, struggled. 

He scored only 5 off his first 13 balls as the asking-rate climbed over two a ball. Pietersen redressed that imbalance by heaving Darren Sammy over midwicket for six and then cutting his next ball - off Steyn - for four. Karthik had also scored at just over a run a ball when he became Steyn's first wicket of the season, in the 17th over. Steyn doubled his tally next delivery by claiming Pietersen.

The Daredevils' biggest blunder was perhaps a tactical one - they kept their most in-form batsman for too late. Duminy briefly threatened to pull off an incredible heist, but Tiwary, who faced 13 balls, could not give him enough of the strike. Duminy was able to face only seven balls and scored 20 off them. Daredevils desperately needed him to face just a few more. 

IPL Match 11 RCB V KKR

Kolkata Knight Riders 150 for 7 (Lynn 45, Kallis 43, Aaron 3-16) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 148 for 5 (Takawale 40) by two runs

How quickly does a Twenty20 game change? Ask Royal Challengers Bangalore. 

For virtually the entire match it was in their grasp: their bowlers had combined to limit Kolkata Knight Riders to 150 on a flat track in Sharjah, their openers had put them on course in the chase, and even though Yuvraj Singh flapped about towards the end, the asking-rate was never out of hand. Even at the start of the final over with two renowned finishers, AB de Villiers and Albie Morkel, in the middle, Royal Challengers were favourites.

Nine runs were needed, and Knight Riders' two major threats, Sunil Narine and Morne Morkel, had bowled out. Vinay Kumar stepped up to the job and delivered an over filled with full deliveries that kept his old team down to six, sparking delirious celebrations from the Knight Riders camp.

When a bowler defends nine off the final over in a Twenty20, that too against some of the finest hitters in the world, you'd expect him to hog the headlines. It is Chris Lynn who everyone will be talking about, however, after he took an acrobatic catch to send back de Villiers and turn the game in the final over.

De Villiers was looking to clear the long boundary at midwicket - the pitch was at the edge of the square - and though he connected well, there wasn't enough to clear the rope. He might still have survived, as Lynn had slipped and fallen before the ball got to him. That didn't deter Lynn, who leapt up and plucked that powerful hit bending his back like a high-jumper, and flopped to the ground, somehow managing it all without touching the rope which was a yard behind.

Given the sheer athleticism involved, the stage of the game, and the player who was dismissed by it, it's hard to see how Lynn's catch will be topped this season. "I slipped and I thought if I stood up and dropped the catch, it would look very silly, so just stayed down," was Lynn's straight-faced explanation when asked about his game-changing grab.

After de Villiers' exit Royal Challengers needed six off two, not entirely out of reach, especially for a hitter like Morkel. But the catch left Royal Challengers stunned, and even though the final delivery was a hittable full toss, Morkel couldn't put it away, and Knight Riders' jailbreak was complete.

The high drama at the end masked a diffident performance from Knight Riders for much of the game. 

The only other passage in the match when they looked in control was when Lynn was in the middle, swatting sixes off the returning Muttiah Muralitharan. Lynn, bought as an afterthought in the IPL auctions showed some of the big-hitting that has earned him loyal fans in the Big Bash League.

Lynn put on 80 for the third wicket with Jacques Kallis, after Gautam Gambhir fell for his third successive duck and the in-form Manish Pandey faltered. 

Lynn's dismissal in the 12th over drained the momentum from Knight Riders' innings and they finished on what seemed an inadequate score. Varun Aaron showed he had control as well as pace, and legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal turned in his third impressive performance in a row to keep the Knight Riders in check.

Royal Challengers' dominance increased after their openers, Parthiv Patel and Yogesh Takawale, provided a strong start, and Virat Kohli was at his usual best to guide the chase along. 

Narine was watchfully played out till Kohli was bamboozled off the penultimate ball of his spell to keep Knight Riders in the game. Yuvraj couldn't force the pace towards the end giving Knight Riders more of a grip on the game, before Vinay and Lynn yanked it out of Royal Challengers' hands. 

IPL Match 10 CSK V RR

Chennai Super Kings 140 for 6 (Dwayne Smith 50, Jadeja 36*, Bhatia 2-13) beat Rajasthan Royals 133 (Jadeja 4-33) by seven runs

On a day that the usual Chennai Super Kings heavy batting artillery failed to fire, their bowling, led by the versatile Ravindra Jadeja's four-wicket haul, carved out a seven-run win against Rajasthan Royals on a slow Dubai pitch.

Defending a middling total, Jadeja's two wickets in two balls in his first over swung the pendulum decisively in favour of Super Kings, the wickets being those of Shane Watson and Sanju Samson. Royals never really recovered from the jolt and despite some happy hitting towards the end, disintegrated to their second defeat.

 

When Super Kings were asked to bat, Brendon McCullum mis-hitting a number of deliveries seemed a case of the batsman struggling but if anything, it was actually an indication of the nature of the pitch which wasn't as batsmen friendly as thought to be before the start of the match. McCullum was eventually out to a stunning catch by Steven Smith behind midwicket, hitting a length delivery from James Faulkner higher than longer.

That slowness of the pitch didn't seem to bother Dwayne Smith, however, as he raced to his second half-century in three matches with a flurry of big hits. After carefully playing out his first 18 deliveries for 17 runs, Smith used the pace the seamers offered him and carted the ball around the ground, his next nine deliveries bringing him 33 runs.

Smith reached his fifty with a six but was done in by the sponginess of the surface in the very next delivery as he tried to force the ball over the infield, but only spooned a catch to mid-off. What followed was a period of play controlled by the Royals' slower bowlers. He wouldn't have known at the time, but he did end up playing the defining innings of the match as no one from either team came close to his strike rate of 178.57.

The canny Rajat Bhatia, who later joked he was probably bowling "slower than the pitch", served up his most economical spell in the IPL of 4-0-13-2 - all 13 of them in singles - hardly giving any pace for the batsmen to work with. At the other end, Pravin Tambe removed the dangerous MS Dhoni to push Super Kings from a comfortable 59 for 1 to a perilous 74 for 5. Was it not for a fighting 36 from Jadeja, Super Kings would have had to settle for a much lower total than what they eventually got.

The task at the start of the second innings would have been considered manageable given the skill-level in Royals' batting and the knowledge of how the pitch was going to play. Though Royals lost Abhishek Nayar early to a suicidal run, Rahane appeared comfortable as he regularly employed late deflections to manoeuvre the ball. Samson was impressive, launching Ben Hilfenhaus for two clean sixes to finish the fifth over on 37 for 1.

The introduction of spin in the sixth over had the same effect as in the first innings with Rahane top-edging a sweep to deep square leg. Dhoni tossed the ball to Jadeja in the next over that pushed Royals to the edge of the precipice. 

IPL Match 9 KXIP V SRH

Kings XI Punjab 193 for 6 (Maxwell 95, Bhuvneshwar 3-19) beat Hyderabad Sunrisers 121 (Balaji 4-13) by 72 runs

Last season, Glenn Maxwell was the punchline to tons of millionaire jokes. He warmed the Mumbai Indians bench for much of the campaign, and was a peripheral figure in the three matches he did play. 

This time, the season is only a week old, and he's not just played three matches, he's been the Man of the Match in each.

The people laughing now will be Kings XI Punjab's owners who will view the million dollars they sunk on Maxwell as a bargain given the three impressive wins he has orchestrated at the start of the season. 

If the previous two victories had been thrilling affairs in which Kings XI hunted down massive scores, this was a forgettably one-sided affair after Maxwell put on a show again to lead the side to 193. Especially after L Balaji removed David Warner and Aaron Finch in the fifth over.

Sunrisers Hyderabad have a dangerous top-order - any of Shikhar Dhawan, Warner or Finch can single-handedly transform a match - but they also have a dangerously unbalanced batting line-up. 

After the big three, the batting is alarmingly thin - KL Rahul is still finding his way at this level, Venugopal Rao isn't someone teams are going to worry about too much, Irfan Pathan is a spot too high at No. 6 and Darren Sammy is great at providing the finishing touches but less proficient at building the base.

Once Mitchell Johnson accounted for Dhawan and Balaji made his double breakthrough, it was a hour-long dirge for Sunrisers' fans before it ended in a crushing 72-run defeat, leaving them with plenty of questions over the composition of the team. 

Warner won't just be disappointed with his low score, but also with his botched catch that reprieved Maxwell on 11. With Wriddhiman Saha slotted for No. 6, Kings XI don't have too much depth in their batting, something Sunrisers could have capitalised on had Warner held on to a fairly straightforward chance at long-off in the 10th over.

Instead, the chance went went down and Maxwell went on to pillage 95 off 43, including nine sixes. The highlight of the onslaught was the 13th over when Maxwell effortlessly cleared midwicket off the first three deliveries before launching one towards the sightscreen to take 25 runs off the Amit Mishra over. 

This innings had fewer of the switch-hits and reverse-sweeps and was more about clean hitting down the ground and, especially, over midwicket.

It was the prefect setting for Maxwell as the openers Cheteshwar Pujara and Virender Sehwag had provided a fast start from which he could build. 

He had plenty of luck as well - besides the Warner reprieve, he was caught off a no-ball, a skier was in the air for ages but evaded everyone when it landed at midwicket. Sunrisers also didn't bring on their main weapon, Dale Steyn, when Maxwell was in the midst of his carnage. 

Till he was 72 off 29, Maxwell faced neither Steyn nor Bhuvneshwar Kumar - both of whom combined to limit the damage at the end of the innings.

Still, though Kings XI didn't reach the 200 that looked nailed on for, they reached a total which proved far too much for Sunrisers.