Royal Challengers crush Knight Riders with Gayle ton

Royal Challengers Bangalore 175 for 1 (Gayle 102*, Balaji 1-43) beat 

Kolkata Knight Riders 171 for 5 (Gambhir 48, Aravind 2-37 ) by nine wickets 

Chris Gayle has arrived. He smashed his way to his first IPL century, the second-fastest in this edition of the competition, and was the architect of Bangalore's victory over his former team, Kolkata. Gayle formed powerful partnerships with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Virat Kohli as Bangalore were untroubled in their chase of 172, winning by nine wickets.

The pitch was proving to be tricky for the quicks and Kolkata opted to start with a spinner after having posted 171. Yusuf Pathan, who was battling a knee niggle, opened the bowling. After three good deliveries, Yusuf strayed on the leg stump and Dilshan cashed in with four through square leg. With that, the flood gates were opened.

In the fourth over, Gayle had scored just three singles - while Dilshan had notched up 19 - when he was offered a full toss. He drove it down past the non-striker for the first of his 17 boundaries. It didn't matter what Bangalore tried after that. Jaidev Unadkat was dispatched with disdain as Gayle went down on one knee, smacking him for six over long-on. Shakib Al Hasan was tossed around like a limp ragdoll, slogged over midwicket and mowed over deep square. Yusuf was smoked through the covers. Gayle even showed a touch of deftness, playing one fine to the third man boundary.

It didn't matter who was given the ball, even though spin proved difficult to get away during the Kolkata innings. Manoj Tiwary was slapped over long-on and even mishit for six. Medium pacer Rajat Bhatia was hit for 17 runs in his second over, 16 off Gayle's bat. At the end of 12 overs, Bangalore were cruising on 123 for 1 when Dilshan was bowled by L Balaji, who controlled the swing admirably.

The Gayle force blew on though. Together with Kohli, he brought the required run rate down to less than a run a ball. Kohli was given some room to express himself too, taking advantage of full balls offered by Balaji and showing off his wrist work against Bhatia. Kohli almost had too much fun and denied Gayle a century with a boundary off the first ball of the 18th over, that left Bangalore with just two to win. He blocked out the rest of the over to make amends.

Even a wide from Iqbal Abdulla couldn't stop Gayle, who ended the innings with a smashing shot through the covers, winning the match with 11 balls to spare. Gayle, who was picked up by Bangalore as a replacement for the injured Dirk Nannes, wore a jersey with 333 - his highest Test score - on the back and made light work of a total that Kolkata should have been able to defend.

Their innings was held together by a classy 48 from captain Gautam Gambhir, patience from Jacques Kallis and a measured assault by Yusuf.

Things started disastrously for Bangalore with Zaheer Khan's first over going for 19 runs. It consisted of three wides, one of which went for four, and three boundaries, all off the bat of Kallis. Sreenath Aravind fared a little better, his first over going for 14.

Daniel Vettori rung in the changes immediately, replacing Khan with left-arm spinner Syed Mohammed. Together with Dilshan, he hauled the run rate back to reasonable 8.33 per over. Mohammed was impressive in his initial two-over spell and was rewarded for tight bowling when Haddin tried to hit him over mid-off but got an edge that Kohli collected at point.

Kallis and Gambhir batted with patience against the slower bowlers and unleashed when Khan was brought back in the 11th over. Gayle played a role in the field as well, taking the catch that sent Kallis on his way. Vettori bowled a shorter one which Kallis drove on the up towards extra cover where Gayle dived to his left and plucked the ball out of the sky.

Yusuf, batting at four, allowed himself five balls to settle before depositing a Mohammed delivery over long-on. After Gambhir was caught by Dilshan at extra cover, Yusuf unleashed. He destroyed Aravind, pulling the short one for four, smashing the full one for six and dispatching the low full toss to the boundary.

The quicks redeemed themselves a bit with Khan bowling a decent last over, mixing up slower balls and yorkers, and Aravind claiming the wicket of Yusuf, who was trying to force the ball over long off but only got it as far as Kohli.

Marsh shines in big Punjab win

Two wickets off two no balls in Punjab's first two overs, established that luck was riding in Kings XI's direction and the home team ensured they made the most of it. After rampaging their way to huge total of 195 they made sure Rajasthan fell 48 runs short to register their third victory on the trot.

Earlier in the very first over of the game, Siddharth Trivedi got Gilchrist to edge a delivery back onto the stumps. Gilly began walking when the keeper collected the ball and dislodged the stumps as the umpire signaled a no ball. The rule book states that a batsman cannot be run out if he is walking because he thinks he is out. So instead of being back in the hut, the Punjab skipper was in with a free hit that he belted into the boundary.

In the next over Shaun Tait got dangerman Paul Valthaty to edge a delivery to Ross Taylor at third slip and everyone thought the law of averages had caught up with find of IPL 4. But the umpire went upstairs to check if Tait had his foot on the side line and yet again the batsman got a life because of a no ball.

From there on there was no looking back. Valthaty and Gilchrist launched into the Rajasthan bowling attack paying no attention to reputation or seniority. The assault was so ferocious that Punjab crossed the 50-run mark in just 2.5 overs.

It was no surprise when Warne brought himself on to bowl the 4th over. Gilchrist greeted his former teammate with a huge six off his second delivery and by the time he departed departed for 28 in the 5th over Punjab were on 67 and the damage to Rajasthan's confidence had been done.

Shaun Marsh walked in and took over where from where Gilchrist had left off - hitting boundaries at will and taking 21 off Warne's last over that included three humongous sixes. His innings of 71 came off just 42 deliveries.

At the other end, Valthaty continued to ride his luck with good measure. Two of his miscued shots into the air were dropped off consecutive balls, first by Shane Watson and then by Swapnil Asnodkar. He was out for 46 off 31 balls when another mistimed shot off Warne went down Tait's throat.

The Royals pulled things back and picked up some wickets after the 15th over to restrict Punjab to 195-8 after a score of 200 plus looked like a near certainty.

195 was still a tough ask - the tournament's highest total so far and Rajasthan were never quite in the game during their chase. Rahul Dravid hit two beautiful boundaries before giving too himself too much room to a ball from Ryan Harris that took an inside edge onto the stumps.

Swapnil Asnodkar departed soon after, clean bowled by Praveen Kumar. When Shane Watson was out after a quickfire 24, the writing was on the wall. Praveen was the pick of the bowlers for Punjab, giving away just 22 runs off his 4 overs and picking up those two wickets.

Taylor was then sent back for a duck and despite a partnership between Stuart Binny and Ashok Menaria, the Kings XI never really looked threatened. In the end, Rajasthan fell 48 runs short ending their innings at 147-7 and giving Punjab a comprehensive win - their third in a row.

Kings XI Punjab 195 for 7 (Marsh 71, Valthaty 46, Tait 3-22) beat 

Rajasthan Royals 147 for 7 (Praveen 2-22, Bhatt 2-20) by 48 runs

Kochi stifle Kolkata in hard-fought win

Kochi Tuskers Kerala won a battle of attrition against Kolkata Knight Riders on a slow Eden Gardens pitch to move to the third position in the points table. The wicket did not play as low as it did in Kolkata's win against Rajasthan Royals, but it was just as slow, making it difficult for batsmen, and a delight for the spinners.

After Yusuf Pathan and Shakib Al Hasan had taken six wickets for 48 runs between them to restrict Kochi to 132, Kolkata's powerful batting line-up would have fancied the modest chase. But Kochi's own army of spinners - Muttiah Muralitharan, Ramesh Powar and Ravindra Jadeja - stifled the runs though they did not get as many wickets, and ensured the pressure got to the Kolkata batsmen, who fell six runs short.

As it transpired, the performance against the new-ball bowlers was the difference between the two sides. Kolkata's seamers conceded 26 for 0 in their first three overs, while Kochi's fast bowlers dismissed Jacques Kallis and Gautam Gambhir, while conceding only 20 runs in their first four overs. Kallis fell to the hook for the second time running, swinging Vinay Kumar straight to deep square leg. Gambhir played inside the line of a full delivery from RP Singh that straightened and uprooted middle stump as Kolkata began to stutter.

In the next over, Manvinder Bisla drove outside the line of a Jadeja delivery to lose his off stump. Manoj Tiwary and Eoin Morgan tried to work the ball around but the spinners were getting turn, and their different styles posed problems. Muralitharan, back after being left out for the previous two games, varied his flight and angle brilliantly, Jadeja fired the ball in, and Powar stuck to flight as he always does.

The mounting asking-rate led to Morgan charging out of his crease in the 13th over for a non-existent single, and Jayawardene threw down the middle stump with a direct hit. Tiwary took on RP Singh in the next over with consecutive boundaries, but Shakib missed a low full toss off the last ball to be bowled.

Kochi Tuskers Kerala 132 for 7 (Jadeja 29, Yusuf 3-20, Shakib 3-28) beat 

Kolkata Knight Riders 126 for 9 (M Tiwary 46, RP Singh 2-25, Jadeja 2-25) by six runs

Mumbai beat ordinary Pune

Mumbai Indians 124 for 3 (Rayudu 37, Tendulkar 35) beat

Pune Warriors 118 (Uthappa 45, Munaf 3-8, Nechim 2-13, Murtaza 2-18) by seven wickets 

Hosts Mumbai Indians survived some anxious moments before completing a seven-wicket win over weak-willed Pune Warriors India in their Indian Premier League match at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday. For Pune Warriors this was their second consecutive defeat after losing the last match against Delhi Daredevils by three wickets.

With a clinical bowling in display, the home team bundled out Warriors for 118 in 17.2 overs - their lowest so far this season. Mumbai Indians lost only James Franklin (6), Sachin Tendulkar (35) and Ambati Rayudu (37) in a lopsided game.

After losing Franklin, Sachin and Rayudu added 74 runs for the second-wicket to ensure an easy chase for their team. However, Rahul Sharma struck in the 14th over to get rid of Sachin, trying to go over long-off. The master batsman was dismissed for the first time in 2011 IPL after not out scores of 46, 55 and 100 in three previous matches. In-form Rayudu soon followed trying to finish the proceedings in a hurry.

Mumbai made a heavy weather of the chase but unbeaten Rohit Sharma (20) and Andrew Symonds (16) ensured their side home in a last-ball thriller. Rohit clobbered a huge six over extra-cover in the last ball to ease some unsettling nerves at Wankhede.

This was Mumbai's third win in four games after losing their previous encounter against Kochi Tuskers Kerala by eight wickets.

Abu Nechim, playing his first game of the season, and Munaf Patel rocked high-flying Pune Warriors early as the visitors folded for 118 on a hard and dry wicket at Wankhede.

Electing to bat first, Pune Warriors lost their four top-order batsmen, including skipper Yuvraj Singh, with only 17 runs on the board. Robin Uthappa was the only top-order batsman to offer some resistance, scoring 45 runs off 37 balls with six fours and a six. Kieron Pollard took a stunning catch at long-on off Ali Murtaza to end his short vigil.

Nechim did the early damage when he removed in-form opener Jesse Ryder (12) and Mithun Manhas (0) before paceman Munaf Patel accounted for Tim Paine (2) and Yuvraj Singh (0) to reduce the hosts to 17-4 in the opening five overs.

Murtaza added to the Pune' misery, by claiming their last recognised batsman in Mohnish Mishra when the right-hander miscued one for a simple catch to Rohit Sharma at long-on. Mumbai bowlers continued to press their advantage and the visitors obliged losing wickets at regular intervals.

Munaf was the most successful bowler for Mumbai ending the match with figures of three for 8 in 2.2 overs. Nechim, Lasith Malinga and Murtaza claimed two wickets apiece to rattle debutants Pune Warriors, who never looked comfortable at the crease.

Deccan seal easy win over Delhi

Deccan Chargers 168 for 4 (Sohal 62, Sangakkara 49) beat 

Delhi Daredevils 152 for 7 (Warner 51, Harmeet 2-27) by 16 runs 

A disciplined Deccan Chargers lifted themselves from near the basement of the IPL table to fourth place with an important win over fellow strugglers Delhi Daredevils on a slow-and-low track at Feroz Shah Kotla. Their stand-out performers were not the marquee names but unsung opener Sunny Sohal and medium-pacer Harmeet Singh, playing his first match of the season.

Sohal put on a powerful partnership with Kumar Sangakkara to seemingly set Deccan on their way to their highest total of the tournament, but Delhi shackled them in the second half of the innings to keep them to a more-manageable 168. Harmeet, however, removed two of Delhi's three lethal hitters cheaply to swing the game in Deccan's favour.

Deccan began brightly with a beautiful Sohal cover drive for four off the first ball, and Shikhar Dhawan belted two more boundaries in the over. Delhi hit back as Irfan Pathan had Dhawan chopping on, but that brought together Sangakkara and Sohal, who put together Deccan's best passage of play in a 92-run stand.

Sangakkara was his usual elegant self, timing the ball wonderfully as he cut and drove the loose deliveries on offer. He was at his most punishing against the spinners, welcoming Shahbaz Nadeem's left-arm spin with a six over midwicket, and two more leg-side boundaries. Yogesh Nagar, playing his first game of the season, was also taken for two extra cover boundaries. Both times Sangakkara teased Morne Morkel on the boundary, making him dive to his left, and then to his right; but both times the ball eluded the fielder.

Sohal also didn't play a typical brute-force Twenty20 innings. His 62 was sprinkled with dabs to third man and clever glides past fine leg, besides some textbook drives. It was only once he reached his half-century that he brought out the big shots, smashing Morkel for a six near the sightscreen and then blasting him through the covers.

At 103 for 1 after 11 overs, even 200 was within Deccan's sights. Ashok Dinda, though, had Sangakkara miscuing to cover, where he was taken by a back-pedalling Aaron Finch, and another smart catch from Finch sent back Sohal a couple of overs later. Though the big-hitters, Cameron White and Dan Christian, were at the crease, Deccan couldn't maintain the pace. There were only three boundaries in the final six overs as Delhi squeezed the runs with some accurate bowling.

Delhi would have been satisfied at the halfway stage, and soon the home crowd was at its most vocal as Virender Sehwag unleashed three successive fours off the second over of Delhi's chase. The strong start was undone by Harmeet, who removed Sehwag and Finch in his first two overs, with Christian nipping out Naman Ojha in between.

The Delhi innings was a stop-start affair, with bursts of big scoring sandwiching prolonged quiet spells. David Warner and Venugopal Rao muscled 30 runs off two overs to get to 71 for 3 after nine and revive Delhi hopes, but the return of Dale Steyn and the introduction of Amit Mishra choked the runs.

On a track providing turn, and where shot-making was becoming difficult, Venugopal fell to a superbly judged, leaping overhead catch by Christian at long-off, and Warner's less-than-fluent innings ended with a slog to deep midwicket in the 15th over. Delhi's slender hopes now rested on Irfan Pathan and James Hopes but neither could get going and despite Yogesh Nagar's cameo, Deccan coasted to victory.

Rajasthan crushed at Eden Gardens by KKR Bowlers

Kolkata Knight Riders 85 for 2 (Gambhir 35*, Tiwary 30*) beat 
Rajasthan Royals 81 (Balaji 3-15) by eight wickets 
Balaji produced a magical delivery to knock out the dangerous Shane Watson in his first spell before he returned to torpedo the lower order. The delivery that took out Watson was one of the best, if not the best, delivery bowled by a seamer this IPL. It landed on the good length around the middle stump line and jagged away sharply past the waft to hit the top of the off stump. Balaji screamed, his team-mates were delirious, and the crowd roared; everyone knew the importance of Watson's dismissal, accentuated even more by the absence of Rahul Dravid and Johan Botha in the line-up. He later returned to remove Ajinkya Rahane with an incutter and had Ashok Menaria upper cutting to thirdman.

Buoyed by Balaji's feat, a charged-up Kolkata applied the squeeze with discipline in bowling and desperation in the field. Iqbal Abdulla produced two sparkling moments: he first got one to dip and turn to leave Amit Paunikar stranded out of the crease before he produced a stunning effort in the field. He charged across and dived to stop a push-drive at short mid-on region off his own bowling and was shaping to throw at the striker's end when he realised that damage had to be done at the other end. He switched his arm at the very last instant to fire down a direct hit to run out Faiz Fazal.

The wicketkeeper Manvinder Bisla got in the act next to play his part in removing Ross Taylor in the 11th over. Taylor had overbalanced out of his crease, trying to flick a wide delivery down the leg side but Bisla reacted quickly to whip off the bails.

It was then the turn of Shakib Al Hasan to leave his imprint on the game. He reacted quickly at midwicket to fire an accurate throw at the striker's end to run out Abhishek Raut. Later, after Balaji had taken out Rahane and Menaria, Shakib took wickets off successive deliveries in the 15th over to hasten the end. Two arm-balls, with varying pace, took out Amit Singh and Shaun Tait for ducks, before Brett Lee rearranged Siddharth Trivedi's stumps to give Kolkata a perfect finish.

The chase wasn't a stroll, though. Jacques Kallis fell for a second-ball duck, top edging a lifter from Shaun Tait, and Manvinder Bisla fell to Shane Warne after a scratchy knock but Gautam Gambhir stayed till the end to finish the job.

Delhi win, trump Yuvi heroics

Navi Mumbai: Delhi Daredevils' unfancied batting line-up pulled off a thrilling chase, upsetting the higher-placed Pune Warriors in a high-scoring match. Venugopal Rao and Aaron Finch added 47 in four overs in the dying stages of the game to pull Delhi back from the brink. It is Delhi's first win in the tournament after two losses and Pune's first loss after two wins.

Pune had posted 187-5 with power-packed fifties from Jesse Ryder and skipper Yuvraj Singh, who also took four wickets to derail Delhi's chase. But Venugopal and Finch's sustained hitting took Delhi close after which James Hopes hit Ryder for a six and four in the final over to cap the chase.

Delhi had been provided a robust start of 75 in seven overs by David Warner (37) and skipperVirender Sehwag (46), who finally provided a meaty contribution after two small scores earlier.

The DY Patil pitch is quicker than the others in the tournament, and Delhi brought in Umesh Yadav for the match. An incredibly wayward first over followed. Yadav bowled short on both sides of the wicket, left-hander or right-hander, and went for four fours in the over that produced 21 runs in all.

Resultantly, Ryder blasted his way to 50 after being dropped on 46 by Ashok Dinda. It set up the innings for the big-hitting Robin Uthappa and Yuvraj. Uthappa made only four, but Yuvraj had a fantastic time, making 66 in 33.

In the final over, he pounded a four and three sixes off Dinda to end the innings. During the chase, Yuvraj dismissed Irfan Pathan and Manan Ojha and was on a hat-trick in his first over. As Delhi got closer to the target, he dismissed Finch and Venugopal in his final over. Oddly, it still wasn't enough.

The disappointing aspect of the bigger picture is that Irfan, who had been recovering from injury last year, has still not found any sort of form in this tournament. He has taken one wicket in three matches. He has bled runs. With the bat, he's made a first-ball duck against Mumbai, and a six-ball 10 against Rajasthan.

Today Irfan was promoted to No. 3 at David Warner's fall. With 13 overs and 113 runs remaining, Irfan had time to bat and a target to attain. He made a 16-ball 14 which didn't help Delhi's fight with the mounting required rate.

Delhi have one of the weakest-looking squads in the tournament, and Irfan is one of their senior players. A turnaround of fortunes for Irfan could not only propel Delhi, but also propel Indian cricket.

Delhi Daredevils 190 for 7 (Warner 46, Yuvraj 4-29) beat 

Pune Warriors 187 for 5 (Ryder 60, Yuvraj 66*) by three wickets

CSK complete thumping win

Chennai Super Kings 183 for 5 (Hussey 83*, Vijay 31) beat 

Royal Challengers Bangalore 162 for 7 (de Villiers 64, Randiv 2-24) 

Michael Hussey began his 2011 IPL season by wading into Royal Challengers Bangalore's attack in an innings that was reminiscent of his famous assault on Pakistan in the 2010 World Twenty20. Chennai Super Kings flexed their top-order muscle around Hussey's enterprise to power their way to 183, and the lack of Paul Valthaty-esque intent in Bangalore's chase meant they ran out easy winners. Bangalore's batting once again suffered from muddled thinking after their fielding fell apart in a rash of schoolboy errors. To make matters worse, their support bowlers bled 101 runs off nine overs, wasting the efforts of Zaheer Khan, Daniel Vettori and Virat Kohli, who bowled the remaining 11 for 82.

Facing a tough chase, Bangalore tried a pinch-hitter at No. 3 for the second game running. Walking in after Tillakaratne Dilshan's early dismissal, Asad Pathan began by smearing two fours and a six off Albie Morkel, but departed attempting a hare-brained scoop against Tim Southee. AB de Villiers then batted with needless caution, much like he had against Mumbai Indians, and Bangalore suffered once again. They made only 113 runs in the 16 overs following Pathan's attack of Morkel. Kohli could not pick up enough singles, Saurabh Tiwary could not hit boundaries, and Cheteshwar Pujara holed out under pressure. de Villiers eventually opened up against Southee and took 15 runs from the 18th over, but by then the required-rate was above 18 and it was too late to spoil the Chepauk crowd's evening.

Chennai's celebrations were set up by Hussey's brilliance with the bat. Crouching low at the crease, with feet ready to scramble forward or back depending on the lengths, Hussey preyed on leg-stump offerings with his signature sweeps, pulls and lashes. Eight of his eleven boundaries came through the on side, four of those through square leg. On the rare occasions when the ball was angled across, he slammed powerful cover drives or steered cheekily towards third man. Throughout his effort, he ran like the wind, making a mockery of his age, and the typically oppressive Chennai afternoon.

Bangalore's fielders were switched off right from the outset. Only two boundaries came in the first four overs, one courtesy an M Vijay paddle that went straight through short fine-leg. There were more bloopers to follow, strangely from fielders with good reputations. Cheteshwar Pujara threw needlessly from point to gift an overthrow, before Mohammad Kaif - one of the best fielders to have represented India - clanged a regulation chance from Hussey at mid-off.

That was the cue for Chennai to shift gears. Vijay blasted two fours and a six off Johan van der Wath, before Hussey slapped Tillakaratne Dilshan for consecutive boundaries to ignite Chennai's charge. Ryan Ninan dismissed Vijay a ball after being lofted for a six, but Suresh Raina stepped in seamlessly. He steered van der Wath to third man, before plundering Ninan in the 11th over for a couple of fours and a six through the straight field. He fell attempting another big hit, but by then Chennai were galloping along.

Kohli and Vettori slipped in three quiet overs, before Hussey broke loose in the 15th. Vettori's exemplary spell was ruined by his last two balls, off which Hussey looted 10 runs to reach his 50 off 42 balls. He proceeded to shred Kohli for fours through square on either side of the wicket before MS Dhoni sledgehammered Zaheer for an emphatic straight six in the 17th over. Zaheer dismissed Dhoni with his next ball, in the process cutting his side's losses by at least 15 runs. It, however, made no impact on the end result.

All-Round Valthaty gives Punjab comprehensive win

Its not everyday you outscore and outpace Adam Gilchrist two games in a row. It's also not everyday that you join Sachin Tendulkar at the top of the run-getters list in a tournament. Paul Valthaty is having a special time in the IPL and Kings XI Punjab are benefitting from it.

After 120 against Chennai in the last game, Valthaty took 4-29 bowling seam-ups and then hammered 75 in 47 to give Deccan Chargers yet another defeat at home. Deccan's respectable score of 165 seemed 50 runs short when Gilchrist (61) and Valthaty smashed all their bowlers with no prejudice.

The openers added 136 in 14 overs, got out, but left enough overs for the middle order to wrap up the chase smoothly.

Valthaty has ensured he won't be a one-hit wonder at the IPL. He was the seventh bowler used by Gilchrist today. He bowled split-finger slower balls and claimed the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan (45), Bharat Chipli (14), Daniel Christian (30) and Amit Mishra (0).

That wasn't enough for the cricketer from Mumbai. So he took two fours off Dale Steyn to start his innings. Then he slashed Ishant Sharma for six. And when MS Gony came on for his first over, Valthaty took four fours and a six from it.

You have to be playing a special hand when Gilchrist turns over the strike to you. At one point Gilchrist was on 15 to Valthaty's 39. The Punjab captain caught up with him, going past his fifty first.

The feature of their batting was their monstrous hitting. Pace or spin, Deccan's bowlers were being regularly deposited several rows back into the crowd, sometimes in the second tier.

In the course of the onslaught, Valthaty equalled Tendulkar's tally of 201 runs in the tournament but got out next ball.

Gilchrist and Valthaty have now emerged as the most destructive pair in the tournament alongside Delhi's David Warner and Virender Sehwag, who're yet to have a good game together. If Punjab keep up this act, and Gilchrist is known to mould winning teams, they could go all the way this year.

Kings XI Punjab166 for 2 (Valthaty 75, Gilchrist 61) beat Deccan Chargers 165 for 8 (Dhawan 45, Sangakkara 35, Valthaty 4-29, McLaren 2-33) by eight wickets

Kochi silence Mumbai's roar

Kochi Tuskers Kerala 184 for 2 (McCullum 81, Jayawardene 56) beat 
Mumbai Indians 182 for 2 (Tendulkar 100*, Rayudu 53) by eight wickets

Two weeks ago, the crowd at the Wankhede was delirious though a fervently anticipated Sachin Tendulkar century didn't materialize. On Friday, the same crowd went home dejected despite Tendulkar crafting his first Twenty20 century, as Kochi Tuskers Kerala busted their party with one of the most memorable chases in IPL history.

Two of the world's finest Twenty20 batsmen, Brendon McCullum and Mahela Jayawardene, constructed chalk-and-cheese half-centuries to power Kochi's pursuit of 183. Both perished to Lasith Malinga's deadly deliveries but Kochi, who had stumbled in the final stretch of their first two games, didn't slip up this time as Ravindra Jadeja and Brad Hodge muscled boundaries to finish the game with an over to spare.

Tendulkar's effort checked off another item on his ever-shrinking to-do list, and Mumbai ran up a tall total without needing contributions from Rohit Sharma, Andrew Symonds and Kieron Pollard. It was then assumed that the bowlers would make the rest of the game a formality, but McCullum firmly put that assumption to rest by muscling three boundaries between mid-off and cover in Malinga's second over. The next big jump came in the sixth over from Pollard as McCullum swatted a four past midwicket and Jayawardene eased boundaries behind square on either side of the wicket.

The Mumbai fielding made things worse for the home team. Rohit Sharma dropped McCullum at first slip off the first ball, and Jayawardene was given a life by Ali Murtuza at backward point.

McCullum kept skating out of the crease and lashing the ball through the off side right through his innings, while Jayawardene was content shuffling across and using the bowler's pace, rarely powering the ball. The difference between the two batsmen's innings was highlighted in the ninth over as McCullum smashed the first ball over long-off, and Jayawardene reverse-paddled the fifth ball off the back of the bat for four.

With dew making it difficult for the bowlers to grip the ball, both batsmen kept picking off the boundaries. Kochi were in command by the 14th over as they moved to 128 for 0 when Jayawardene deftly poked a Malinga delivery past the keeper towards a delighted Kochi dug-out. Next ball, Malinga removed Jayawardene with a yorker which prompted a surprise promotion for Jadeja. McCullum, though, kept Kochi on top with a couple of scythed boundaries in the 17th over that worsened Pollard's evening.

With 27 needed off three overs, and nine wickets in hand, Mumbai gambled by bringing on Malinga for his final over. He delivered by bowling McCullum first ball, but Hodge eased Kochi's anxieties with two walloped boundaries off the rest of the over. Jadeja, who has received plenty of criticism over the past two years, then justified his promotion with a couple of swiped sixes off Murtaza Ali to finish off Mumbai with an over to go.

It was the Kochi's franchise first IPL win and Mumbai's first defeat of the season, a result few predicted after Tendulkar had combined power and placement to reach a memorable century. It, however, came after a nervy start: Tendulkar was nearly run out on 0, umpire Paul Reiffel turned down two lbw appeals from Vinay Kumar which should have been given. There was also a close call for caught behind, and an outside edge off Thisara Perera that just beat the keeper.

Mumbai made relatively sedate progress, reaching 57 in eight overs before losing Davy Jacobs. The in-form Ambati Rayudu immediately took charge, blasting two sixes off Raiphi Gomez. A series of powerfully hit straight boundaries took him to 44, when the partnership had realised 64.

The final five overs turned into a Tendulkar show as he plundered 45 runs. Tendulkar showed how he could finesse the ball or force it depending on his mood: in the 16th over, a short ball on legstump was helped over fine leg for six, and a length ball outside off was pummelled over long-on for six more as 20 came off the over. A helicopter shot for four and a slugged six over midwicket took him to 90 after 19 overs.

Tendulkar proceeded to paddle a four past short fine leg, and bludgeon another past long-on before reaching his ton with a push to cover off the final delivery of the innings. The decibel levels shot up in the stands, but it was a muted celebration from Tendulkar himself on reaching the milestone.

Neither he nor the crowd were celebrating at the end of the game. One of the bigger worries for a formidable Mumbai unit was how dependent their attack was on Malinga's form, something they will have to address after losing despite a solid batting effort.

Gambhir-Kallis blitz blows Rajasthan away

Against Chennai, Gautam Gambhir held himself back, coming in late at No. 6 and making one run. The Kolkata Knight Riders captain showed greater sense today in coming one-down, hammering 75 (44b) to set up a nine-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals.

It was the most brutal Gambhir innings in recent times. Coming in at the quick fall of Manvinder Bisla, the Kolkata captain launched an all-out attack on Rajasthan. He stepped out to loft Nayan Doshi for a six to get the innings going before taking four fours in an Amit Singh over. A 28-ball fifty was completed. At the other end, Jacques Kallis calmly collected 80 (65), his third fifty in a row in the tournament, to win back the Orange Cap.

Royals captain Shane Warne had no answer to this powerful build-up. Gambhir and Kallis added 152 unbeaten runs to finish off the chase. The nervousness that marked Kolkata's approach in previous games seems gone. Their dug-out seemed a happy place. With their second win, they've jumped into the top-four.

Earlier in the day, Kolkata elected to field here at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. Rahul Dravid and Ashok Menaria built up Rajasthan nicely with a steady 52-run stand. Rajasthan had Ross Taylor and Shane Watson to follow. Yusuf Pathan bowled one over in which he dismissed Dravid and Menaria both.

Taylor (35 off 22b) and Watson (22 off 13b) brought out the big hits, but this was a flat wicket and 159-4 seemed under-par.

And here's a snippet from the match that stood out as a reminder that there's place for old school trickery in a game where spinners are prone to dart the ball into batsmen's pads.

In the 17th over by Shakib Al Hasan, Watson slog-swept a six. It was the second time Watson had sent Shakib over the ropes today. Shakib by now must have been sick of Watson. In the recently concluded ODI series between Australia and Bangladesh, Watson hit 20 sixes in three matches.

The Bangladesh captain's response to that six was another delivery in the same hitting area. It was a little flat but not quick through the air. Watson set himself up for another slog-sweep. But this time, the ball dipped, turned nicely past Watson's bat, and crashed into the stumps.

Shakib celebrated knowing exactly what he had pulled off. He could have fired in a fast ball and perhaps restricted Watson to a single. But he invited the big hit and took the wicket. It probably saved Kolkata about 20 runs. In the end, maybe this is why they won.

Kolkata Knight Riders 160 for 1 (Gambhir 75*, Kallis 80*) beat 

Rajasthan Royals 159 (Dravid 35, Taylor 35*) by nine wickets 

Deccan break jinx, win big vs RCB

Accurate spells of fast bowling from the entire cast of seamers helped Deccan Chargers inflict a convincing 33-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have now suffered two losses in a row. In the process, they laid to rest the curse of never having won a match at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium in history of the IPL.

Chasing the second-highest total in the tournament so far, Bangalore's batsmen looked hapless throughout and had it not been for a battling half-century by Virat Kohli, they would have ended up in tatters. The four-man seam attack of Dale Steyn, Manpreet Gony, Ishant Sharma and Daniel Christian combined ruthlessly picking up eight of the nine Bangalore wickets.

Tillakaratne Dilshan started off with a streaky boundary, a thick outside-edge off a seaming delivery from Ishant that raced through third man. But Ishant pitched the next ball perfectly on a length and hit the seam hard. Dilshan slashed wildly only for a thin edge to travel into the gloves of Sangakkara, who eventually ended the evening with five catches. If Sangakkara made the right decision to bowl Ishant's four overs in one spell, Steyn - acting as the on-field bowling coach - made sure the Indian kept hitting a good length and avoided getting distracted bowling bouncers.

A surprise move, actually ridiculous, by Bangalore to send Zaheer Khan in at No. 3 lasted three deliveries, before Steyn demolished the Indian's furniture with a fast swinging full toss. Mayank Agarwal tried pulling hard against a short-pitched delivery from Gony which climbed too fast and was caught easily at mid-on. AB de Villiers and Saurabh Tiwary, two proven match-winners, had miserable evenings. The South African was deceived by Gony's outswinger and Sangakkara happily accepted another offering behind the stumps when Tiwary tried to slog sweep against the legspin of Amit Mishra, but ended up skying an easy catch, pouched safely once again by the Hyderabad captain.

Only Kohli lasted the distance, keeping a calm head on his shoulders, while picking the right balls to hit to keep Bangalore's flame of hope from being doused early on. A few good shots - including a raging straight six charging Mishra, and a fierce slog-sweep to go to fifty - were the highlights of his innings. But except for Cheteshwar Pujara, who should have batted up the order, none of the Bangalore batsmen applied themselves to stand up to the challenge.

If Bangalore's batting seemed out of sorts, the Hyderabad men were solid and certain. Barring Shiktar Dhawan, who failed for the second match in a row, the rest of the hosts' batsmen played smartly and kept pushing the run-rate consistently.

Having failed to convert his starts in the first two matches, the onus today was on Sangakkara to keep the middle order intact. And he came up with his most fluent innings to date, playing with a straight bat while building a valuable 50-run alliance with Sunny Sohal for the second wicket, which was the highest for any wicket for Hyderabad so far in the tournament.

Sohal hit the first six of the match and then got out attempting a second one, but Sangakkara played with measured aggression. He took advantage of a couple of easy full-tosses from Daniel Vettori early on, then rotated the strike smartly to keep the pressure on the bowlers, before charging Dilshan to hit an elegant six straight over the bowler's head, his best shot. If Bangalore felt they could wrest the control after Sangakkara's (tame) exit - he tried to chip a fuller and wider delivery from Johan van der Wath - Chipli quickly washed away those aspirations.

He had started with two powerful pulls, both off the back foot, one a six (against Dilshan) and next over a four (off S Arvind). But his biggest victory came when he got the measure of Zaheer.

The bowler of the World Cup was smashed for 22 runs in the nine balls Chipli faced. The onslaught included four fours, the last three coming back-to-back. The first one was slapped straight down the ground to the sight-screen, followed by a bottom edge which raced past the fine-leg ropes. And when Zaheer tried a sleight of hand by coming up with a slower delivery, Chipli, with a steady head, punched a handsome cover drive for another four to march to two runs short of a half century, which he duly completed. It was an innings of impact which caught Bangalore by surprise, and set his team up for that elusive first home win.

Deccan Chargers 175 for 5 (Chipli 61*, Sohal 38, Zaheer 3-32) beat RC Bangalore 142 for 9 (Kohli 71, Steyn 3-24, Gony 3-31) by 33 runs 

Gritty Mishra seals 2nd win for Pune

Navi Mumbai: After restricting the opposition for 148, Pune Warriors India had some anxious moment before overcoming Kochi Tuskers Kerala by four wickets in their Indian Premier League Twenty20 match.

Pune's top-order failed to back their bowlers but the unbeaten Mohnish Mishra (37) tore into Muttiah Muralitharan's 19th over - hitting two six and a four to guide his team home with seven balls remaining. The young batsman from Bhopal was thrilled at taking the experienced spinner apart, and celebrated the second six by punching the air.

Tuskers would have reasons to be pleased with their performance. Their disciplined bowlers did not allow Pune batsmen to have an easy chase. Pune kept losing wickets but Tuskers turned out to be about 20 runs short.

Kochi dismissed Graeme Smith, Mithun Manhas and Yuvraj Singh in quick succession, causing some tension in the Pune camp. But Robin Uthappa biffed two sixes and three fours in a 13-ball 31 to take Pune closer. The rollercoaster ride continued when Muralitharan got rid of Uthappa, bowled trying to repeat a reverse-sweep.

The home team lost hard-hitting opener Jesse Ryder for 17 runs when the left-hander smacked one straight back to Vinay Kumar, who showed amazing reflexes to take a catch off his own bowling. Smith batted with a runner (Alfonso Thomas) after a tumble with Rahul Sharma earlier in the day, and never looked confident during his brief stay for 24 runs.

Earlier, Ravindra Jadeja (47) and Brad Hodge (39) helped Kochi Tuskers overcome a mid-innings wobble as they made 148-8. Kochi were struggling at 24-4 after some tight bowling and fielding by Pune, but Jadeja and Hodge played responsibly to drag their team to a challenging total.

They put on 88 runs for the fifth wicket to pull Kochi out of early trouble. Between them, the duo belted five fours and five sixes before a brilliant catch by Murali Kartik in the deep cut short Hodge's stay in the middle. Jadeja soon followed going for a slog against Ryder.

Yuvraj Singh, warming into his captaincy, shrewdly rotated his bowlers yielding dividends. Wayne Parnell took 3-35 while six other bowlers were used by Pune.

Pacemen Parnell struck twice in the third over removing VVS Laxman and Mahela Jayawardena to reduce Kochi to 13-3 in the third over. Openers Brendon McCullum and Laxman, who put on 80 runs for the first wicket against Bangalore in their opening match, both scored ducks.

Raiphi Gomez, whose 20-run over in the game with Bangalore had cost Kochi the match, redeemed himself today with a quick 26 to finish the innings.