pitches outside off, he shapes to drive but misses
KKR vs CSK, 41st match at Kolkata, , May 18 2008 - Match Result
7.50: Ok it's official. Play has been called off and Chennai Super Kings have won by 3 runs in D/L method. It was inevitable really once the dust storm sent everybody scurrying for cover. A drizzle followed and being a Twenty20 game, there just wasn't enough time for the weather to clear and make the ground ready for play. Chennai have boosted their chances of making the semi-finals. For Kolkata, the task is much harder now.
Makhaya Ntini is the Man of the Match for his 4 for 21 which included a hat-trick. It was a disjointed hat-trick. He accounted for Ganguly off the last ball of his first spell and later returned to clean up Das and Hussey off the first two balls off his next spell. All three were bowled and fittingly, he managed to knock down each of the three stumps.
Since we don't have television coverage of the presentation, we'll have to give it a miss today. Thanks again for all the mails and mostly, for your patience, through yet another truncated game - the second in succession. I enjoyed bringing this game to you. On behalf of Raymond and Raju, this is Kanishkaa signing off. Cheers!
7.38: I'm afraid the covers are still on. Nothing official yet. Something concrete should be known in another 15-20 minutes. The situation doesn't look very good to be honest.
We've got a flood of mails already on the discussion topic below. Thanks for sending them in. Makes for interesting reading. We of course cannot publish all of them! Thanks again for your viewpoints. As I write the second match is about to start, between Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians. Will Deccan finally reverse their losing streak at home? George Binoy will take you through that. He's busy on the keyboard. Deccan will bowl first.
7.20: No updates yet. Staying with the topic, I have a question. Is the IPL way too long? Should we split the teams into groups from the next season and make it shorter?
David Perera: "The IPL is far too long - as Shah Rukh Khan said in an interview the other night, 30 days is long enough. But adding two more teams to have two groups? Can the IPL sustain extra franchises? If so from where? Khan said the market was a multiplex formula - more popular than movies at present."
Karthik: "IPL is a glorified net practice. I don't think it should not be this long. Players like Ishant should be preserved and honed for Test matches. It is really pathetic to pay 950,000 for getting slaughtered by all sundries for 4 hours. Sure he would be happy at the end of the day. But if he picks up slight niggle he will not be hesitating to pass up a Test series. Whole tamasha should not last more than 15 days."
Aoiwa: "Yes. IPL is too long. Watching everyday for those many days at night time is hurting my family life. My wife, who is not a cricket fan keeps complaining everyday. Guess, i need to cough lot of money to buy many gifts to calm her down. I cannot help myself in not watching IPL. Any advise please? :("
Ankur: "I don't think the IPL is that long a tournament. but i dont like the semifinal and final concept in a league format. IPL should be on the EPL lines and hence should have semifinals and finals. also in years to come can cricket completely change into the football format?? with leagues running in all major nations and people playing them all year around except for national duties for test matches and one day internationals. any takers?"
Prashant: "I'm in England, and I support Kolkata, and from what i hear from all my friends who love cricket think it should be longer with more teams, almost like a English Premier league football season. I think you could add atleast 4 more teams."
Hitarth: "With your recent question about the longivity of the tournament, I do feel that there should be two more teams into IPL and there should be only one round of play between the teams. Say, 1 team from Gujarat and One more from Eastern States."
Vidya:" Play half the matches and still pay them 1.5 million or whatever, and so that SETMAX will get only about half the revenue. No, sir !"
Riswan: "I think they can add about 2-4 teams and then they can make 2 divisions."
Misbah: "I dont think IPL is far too long. The format is very good in the sense that it allows no team to complain as they play each other home and away."
Being such loyal followers of our ball-by-ball updates, you might want to vote for your favourite TV commentator. If you haven't, please do.
7.07: Just a reminder, for the benefit of those who've just joined us - Chennai are already three runs ahead of the D/L par score at this point. If this delay extends till 8 PM, it's likely that the match will be called off. It's not official yet. There's still plenty of time left. It's still drizzling.
It's freakish. Just last night, Punjab edged ahead of the par score moments before play was finally called off due to rain. Jayawardene hit a six off the last ball of the match. Had Punjab not scored off that ball, the scores would have been tied. Today, had Dinda taken the catch, things would have been different. The four Fleming struck off the following ball too assumes significance.
I mixed up the teams by mistake. Punjab edged ahead yesterday. Apologies for the confusion. Blame it on the overdose of the IPL....Is there a hole somewhere closeby I can fall into?
6.57: We're seeing pictures of the ground and I'm afraid it isn't a very pretty sight. The covers are on and the wind is making a complete mess of it. The covers are being tossed left and right. You have to feel for the helpless groundstaff. A few get sucked under the covers as it approaches like a rampaging wave. And we understand there's a light drizzle too.
6.48: The players are off the field. The players in the dug out too head indoors. A dust storm halted play once in Sharjah 1998 between India and Australia and we're seeing a repeat of that here. Had Dinda hung onto the catch, the scores would have been tied. So near, yet so far. We'll keep you up to date with the latest.
6.35: In the middle of this over, the TV guys finally mention the Ntini hat-trick. A little late in the day....
Ok we have a delay here. And it's a dust storm! It rained in Kolkata last night at the same time. The wind has picked up. And by the way, Chennai are 3 runs ahead of the D/L par score at this point. If play doesn't continue from here, Chennai will be declared the winners. But it's too early to be thinking about that.
Dhoni has a chat with the umpires. There's rubbish strewn across the ground thanks to the wind which is getting stronger by the minute. Looks like a storm is approaching. We mentioned rain earlier but apparently it isn't raining yet. Sorry for the confusion.
slides down the leg side,he trickles it off his pads and the ball races to fine leg
Dropped: Patel hooks a short delivery and miscues it, the top edge sends the ball sailing in the air for like ages and Dinda spills a straightforward chance at long leg
bowls the slower one this time and beats him outside the offstump
slides on the pads, he whips it to the on side for a single
slides wide down the legside, he attempts to nudge it down fine but misses
bangs it in short of a length, he swings and pulls to the on side
taps it just wide of Shukla at mid-off and sets off, Shukla for some reason hesitates before throwing and eventually knocks the stumps down after Patel makes his ground, why did we wait? Otherwise Patel would have gone, surely!
pushes a full delivery through the line firmly towards mid-off, no single this time
he taps it with soft hands towards mid-off and sets off quickly for a single, he takes advantage of the fact that the fielder is on the edge of the circle
fires that on a fullish length outside off, he squeezes it out towards cover
swivels early to pull a delivery which was fractionally short, he mistimes it towards square leg
pitches it on a fullish length, perhaps searching for the swing, he pushes it softly towards mid-off who's fairly deep and that allows the single
the angle towards the pads gets predictable here but Patel fails to tuck it wide of midwicket this time
angles in towards the pads again, he nudges it off his pads for a legbye
swings in to the left hander and he tucks it to the on side after exposing his stumps
angles in towards the pads, he tucks it away to short fine leg
another defensive push finds the boundary! Patel punches it softly on the up past the bowler and places it wide of mid-off, the outfield may have added a few miles to the speed at which the ball travelled
hits a good length outside off and comes in with the angle, he tucks it just wide of midwicket
Agarkar replaces Ishant
takes this from outside the offstump and whips across the line to midwicket with a good use of the wrists
Eden Gardens, Kolkata | |
Toss | Kolkata Knight Riders, elected to bat first |
Series | |
Season | 2007/08 |
Player Of The Match | |
Hours of play (local time) | 16.00 start, First Session 16.00-17.20, Interval 17.20-17.40, Second Session 17.40-19.00 |
Match days | 18 May 2008 - daynight (20-over match) |
Umpires | |
TV Umpire | |
Reserve Umpire | |
Match Referee | |
Points | Chennai Super Kings 2, Kolkata Knight Riders 0 |
Over 8 • CSK 55/0
CSK won by 3 runs (D/L method)