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.

Valthaty ton pulls off superb chase

Unheralded Paul Valthaty, who struck a blistering unbeaten 120 to steer Kings XI Punjab to victory over defending champions Chennai Super Kings, described his knock as a "dream come true" which has put his career back on track. 

"To be honest it was a belter of a track. It is a dream come true to score a century. Everything was perfect today," man-of-the-match Valthaty said at the presentation ceremony after Kings XI defeated Chennai Superkings by six wickets. 

The 27-year-old Valthaty said he had prepared hard for the Indian Premier League for the last few months and that he was happy to see his efforts pay dividends. 

"I had prepared well for the IPL and it paid off today. I will never forget that moment (of scoring the century). It meant a lot to me," he said. 

Valthaty also thanked the team owners and his colleagues for supporting him. "I made it to the India A squad in 2009 but could not play because of an eye injury. The team has supported me right through. I am happy that I could justify the faith reposed on me." 

Our bowling could have been better: Dhoni 

Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said his team did well to recover from a poor start and post a competitive total but the bowling could have been "a little smarter". 

"We have to learn the lessons from this game. We had a competitive total but they batted very well. Valthaty was brilliant and he really took the game away from us", Dhoni said. 

Dhoni said that dropping a few catches also proved quite costly for his team. "We dropped a few catches which hurt us. Our bowling could have been better. But we have to learn and be prepared for the next game." 

It was a much-needed win: Gilchrist 

A beaming Kings XI captain Adam Gilchrist heaped praise on Valthaty, saying it was an amazing innings. 

"We had a lot of faith in him and he delivered today. It was an amazing knock," Gilchrist said. 

"It was a good batting track. The bowlers just could not err in line and length. For us, it was a terrific all round display. We needed such a win", he added. 

Kings XI Punjab 193 for 4 (Valthaty 120*) beat 

Chennai Super Kings 188 for 4 (Vijay 74, Badrinath 66*) by six wickets

Evergreen Tendulkar feted by Wisden

Sachin Tendulkar added one more to his already bulging cap of feathers when he was named Wisden's leading cricketer in the world for 2010. Tendulkar enjoyed what was even by his standards an outstanding year in 2010, hitting over 1500 Test runs with 7 hundreds. He also went past the previously unthinkable mark of 50 Test match hundreds in 2010. In ODIs, he became the first batsman to hit the 200-run mark, doing it against the might of the South African attack. 

The master batsman, who began this month with what he described as his proudest moment when he helped India win the World Cup on his home ground in Mumbai, is the seventh recipient of the Wisden award. 

Unlike the winners of Wisden's coveted five cricketers of the year, it is possible to be named the world's best in the almanack more than once - and Tendulkar made it an Indian hat-trick, after Test opener Virender Sehwag took the honour in each of the last two years. 

Tendulkar's citation concludes: "Wisden acknowledges his greatness by naming him as the leading cricketer in the world for 2010." 

Alongwith naming its leading cricketer, Wisden also named its World Test Eleven for 2010. He has been pencilled in at his usual Number Four spot, with Sehwag picked as one of the openers. The other opener was Tamim Iqbal. The Bangladesh left-hander is also named one of the cricketers of the year, this year commuted to four rather than five as Wisden announced last week. 

Tamim is the first from his country to receive the accolade, and shares it with England batsman Eoin Morgan - breaking new ground for his native Ireland - the prolific Jonathan Trott and Chris Read - County Champions Nottinghamshire's captain and wicketkeeper-batsman. 

The World Test XI was dominated by Indians with VVS Laxman, MS Dhoni and Zaheer Khan also part of it alongwith Sehwag and Tendulkar. Laxman played what was possibly the knock of the year when he took India to a one-wicket win over Australia in Mohali and rarely put a foot wrong through the year. Zaheer Khan was outstanding for India and the single biggest bowling factor in their maintenance of the top spot. 

The world team also contains two of England's 2010/11 Ashes heroes, off-spinner Graeme Swann and fast bowler James Anderson. Also, for the first time in the short history of the Wisden Test XI, there is no room for an Australian. 

The Wisden Test XI: Virender Sehwag (India), Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh), Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Jacques Kallis (South Africa), VVS Laxman (India), MS Dhoni (India, capt & wk), Graeme Swann (England), Dale Steyn (South Africa), Zaheer Khan (India), James Anderson (England). 

Sachin, Rayudu & solid bowling performance guide MI home

Mumbai Indians 143 for 1 (Tendulkar 51*, Rayudu 62*) beat
Bangalore Royal Challengers 140 for 4 (Dilshan 59*, Pollard 2-25, Malinga 2-32) by 5 wickets

Sachin Tendulkar, the controller, and Ambati Rayudu, the enforcer, made short work of the below-par target to give Mumbai their second successive win of the tournament. However, it was with the bat that Bangalore lost the game tonight. It was a strange innings as Bangalore were in consolidation mode for most of the time after they slipped to 19 for 2 and meandered their way to 140. 

There was no such hesitation shown by Mumbai in the chase. Every time Bangalore tried a new bowler, Tendulkar and Rayudu lashed out. When Abhimanyu Mithun was introduced in the sixth over, Tendulkar showcased his gorgeous straight drive and Rayudu swatted a bouncer and creamed through wide mid-off. When Tillakaratne Dilshan came on in the 10th over, Tendulkar deployed the slog sweep and the conventional sweep to collect more boundaries. When Asad Pathan was brought in the 12th over, Rayudu crash-pulled the first delivery to midwicket boundary and when Virat Kohli returned for a second spell, in the 13th over, Tendulkar smote him to the straight boundary. 

Mumbai's batsmen reserved their best for Zaheer Khan, whose awful night mirrored Bangalore's in many ways. Davy Jacobs flatbatted a stunning a six over long-on in the fourth ball of the chase and sandwiched fours over covers and long-off with a lovely whippy six over midwicket in Zaheer's next over. When Zaheer returned for a second spell, Rayudu cut him to point boundary, slammed a full toss to midwicket and lofted him to the long-on boundary. 

Mumbai's approach couldn't have been more contrasting than that of Bangalore. Tillakaratne Dilshan hit a fifty but it felt like an imposter was wearing his jersey. AB de Villiers made 38 but never looked like he would hurt the opposition. "It's a difficult track to bat; there is spongy bounce and AB (de Villiers) and I thought 140 would be a good score," Dilshan said at the end of the innings. He couldn't have been more wrong, at least tonight. 

The ball didn't appear to stop on the batsmen, there wasn't any alarming turn but they struggled to get going. Mumbai's night was set up by Lasith Malinga with a brute of a first ball. It was full, it was pacy and it curved away devilishly late to go past the stunned Mayank Agarwal and knock out off stump. Next, Malinga pinged Virat Kohli on the boot with another screaming yorker, but it was not given. Kohli fell soon after, top-edging his trademark on-side heave to the keeper. It was the beginning of the crawl. 

Dilshan tried to punch his way out of trouble but rarely found the timing or the gaps. de Villiers also played within himself and the pair started concentrating on singles. de Villiers fell in the 17th over, top-edging a slog against Pollard and that paved way for Saurabh Tiwary to free his arms. He flat-batted Malinga over extra cover and heaved Harbhajan to cow corner. Dilshan woke up in the last over to slap Malinga for six over midwicket as Mumbai finished on a mini-high but it was too little too late.

Rajsthan Royals complete comprehensive win

Rajasthan Royals 152 for 4 (Botha 39*, Dravid 38) beat 
Delhi Daredevils 151 for 6 (Rao 60, Warner 54, Warne 2-17) by six wickets

Rajasthan Royals executed a well-calibrated chase against an off-colour Delhi Daredevils attack to register their second win in two games and move atop the IPL leaderboard. The senior players soaked up the pressure - Rahul Dravid set up the chase and Johan Botha anchored it - while the youngsters, Ashok Menaria and Ajinkya Rahane, batted with freedom to keep the required-rate under control. Ross Taylor added the finishing touches with his trademark leg-side lashes.

While Rajasthan's batting flowed seamlessly, their bowling was a tale of two halves. Their fortunes were typified by Shaun Tait's four one-over spells. He got rid of Virender Sehwag and Aaron Finch - two parts of Delhi's powerful top-order trinity - in first two overs. David Warner, the third part, survived Tait and saw off a sublime spell from Shane Warne before counter-punching along with Venugopal Rao. Tait was either too short or too full in his final spell, and allowed Delhi to haul themselves from 43 for 4 after 10 overs, to 151. Their bowlers, however, let them down.

"I am used to facing all these fast bowlers." Sehwag's emphatic declaration before the game set up the confrontation with Tait. The encounter was, however, was short. Sehwag cracked his first ball through point but Tait hit back immediately with sheer pace. Taking guard after Sehwag's sizzle and fizzle, Finch barely saw the three thunderbolts - one of them touching 157 kph - that burst through his defences. One over of high impact - one spell out of the way.

Botha and Siddharth Trivedi were not so menacing with the ball, and Tait returned for the fifth over. Finch promptly succumbed to another pacy bouncer, and Tait was off the attack again. Warne struck twice in his first over, nailing Unmukt Chand with a quick dipping legbreak, and Naman Ojha with a slower, looping delivery. Thereafter, Rajasthan let the pressure ease, allowing Warner and Rao to find an escape route. Rao checked in with a couple of controlled boundaries against spin before Warner preyed upon Trivedi's poor lines.

Warner plundered Tait's indiscretions in length for three boundaries in his third over. He reached his 50 by cutting Warne in front of square before handing over the baton to his partner. Rao launched two successive slower balls from Trivedi for sixes over the off side, before Irfan Pathan slugged boundaries off Tait's closing over to hustle Delhi to challenging total.

Dravid ignited the chase with a series of boundaries off Ashok Dinda, but Amit Paunikar missed a wild slog to gift him a wicket. Pathan had shown signs of regaining his famous inswinger in Delhi's first game. Today, however, he resorted to listless offcutters that Dravid pounced upon. With his seamers disappointing, Sehwag resorted to Roelof van der Merwe's spin in the sixth over, and Dravid greeted him with two elegant boundaries. Fifty-seven had come off the Powerplay, and the game was heading Rajasthan's way.

van der Merwe gave Delhi an opening by getting Dravid to edge behind, but Botha and Menaria carried on without a fuss. With a stance and swagger reminiscent of Yuvraj Singh, Menaria camped on the back foot and looked to muscle anything too short or too full over midwicket. He thumped sixes off three consecutive overs before carving Pathan straight to cover. Botha was relentless though, in his new No. 3 avatar, executing paddle sweeps at will and keeping things under control. Rahane kept the flag flying, and though Morne Morkel uprooted his stumps in the 16th over it was too little too late.

Kallis powers Kolkata to victory

It could be the overdose of cricket, or the absence of their adored hometown hero Sourav Ganguly, or just that it was a Monday night, whatever the reason, it was only a sparse crowd at Eden Gardens as Kolkata Knight Riders eased to victory in their first home game of the season. On a turning track where the ball kept low, Kolkata's batsmen all chipped in to put up the highest total of the tournament so far, which proved sufficient against Deccan Chargers.

Jacques Kallis provided another launchpad for the innings, with a controlled half-century filled with off-driven boundaries. He wasn't overly troubled by the new-ball attack of Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma, but the introduction of spin slowed the scoring as Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra teased the batsmen on a helpful pitch.

Kallis' opening partner Manvinder Bisla's scratchy stay ended soon after the fifty stand came up, as he missed a straighter one from Mishra. Kallis employed the sweep effectively against the spinners, and started to punish the part-time offerings of JP Duminy and Ravi Teja. A powerful swipe off Duminy got him to a second consecutive fifty, but he perished next ball as he attempted to clear midwicket again.

Gautam Gambhir, back in the familiar territory of No. 3 after batting down the order in the opening match, hardly needed power as he picked off boundaries behind square. Manoj Tiwary's batting was more muscular, slogging two big leg-side sixes in one Duminy over. Yusuf Pathan also provided the Kolkata fans something to cheer as he unleashed his brand of power-hitting to club three boundaries off Steyn's final two overs.

Mishra was the best of the Deccan bowlers, mixing in the googlies and sliders with his stock legspinner to trouble the Kolkata batting. Gambhir is widely reputed to be among the best players of spin in the country, and Mishra had the satisfaction of foxing him with a delivery that slid on to take middle stump. Mishra ended with 4-0-19-2 despite bowling two overs at the end of the innings.

The lack of pace in the Kolkata attack worked in their favour during the chase as the ball didn't come on to the bat, making it difficult for the Deccan batsmen to play their shots. Left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla squeezed the runs early on and he bowled Ishank Jaggi, attempting an awful slog after struggling to 3 off eight balls. Soon after, Eoin Morgan pulled off a stunning piece of fielding to send back Shikhar Dhawan - diving to stop the ball at covers, and rifling in a direct hit while still on his knees.

The Deccan batting depends heavily on their three overseas signings: Kumar Sangakkara, JP Duminy and Dan Christian. Sangakkara and Duminy fell cheaply, both providing catching practice to Kallis in the deep, and it was left to little-known Bharath Chipli who kept the Deccan challenge going initially with a series of boundaries. He too gave Kallis a simple catch, and with half the side dismissed and the asking rate around 13, there was too much for Christian to do. He unleashed a few big hits, but by that stage the biggest worry for Kolkata was the blow to Kallis' chin as he attempted yet another catch.

Watson hits record 15 sixes in Aussie win

Australia 232 for 1 (Watson 185*, Ponting 37*) beat Bangladesh 229 for 7 (Mushfiqur 81*, Johnson 3-54) by nine wickets

Shane Watson knocked Bangladesh's bowlers senseless with a world record tally of sixes as the Australians galloped to a nine-wicket victory in the second limited overs match in Mirpur to seal the series.

The target of 230 had appeared a possible banana skin on a slow pitch offering some turn, but Watson made such light work of it, that his unbeaten185 from 96 balls now stands as the highest ODI score by an Australian, overtaking Matthew Hayden's 181 against New Zealand in 2007.

Xavier Marshall's 2008 mark for most sixes fell when Watson swung his 13th over the rope, the second six in as many balls off the bowling of Abdur Razzak. Watson added two more for good measure, laying claim to one of ODI cricket's more enduring records, for the highest individual percentage of runs in a completed innings. His 79.74% bested Viv Richards' 69.48% in his momentous 189 not out, out of 272 for 9, against England in 1984. (It doesn't qualify for Cricinfo's records, though, which recognise only those cases where a team is all out or where the full allocation of scheduled overs was used.)

Following Michael Clarke's century in game one, vice-captain Watson struck a mighty blow for the visitors' new leadership duo, accompanied most of the way by the unbeaten Ricky Ponting, although it came against a Bangladesh attack that was cowed into submission from virtually the first over of the chase.

Dropping Cameron White for Callum Ferguson as they sought a series-sealing victory, the Australians were in total command when Bangladesh slid to 88 for 5. But Rahim, allrounder Mahmudullah and left-arm spinner Suhrawadi Shuvo pushed the hosts to 229 for 7.

Shahriar Nafees had done his best to keep the first half of the innings from petering out entirely but he was not helped by the funereal approach of opener Imrul Kayes, who lingered 41 balls to gouge out five runs. Mitchell Johnson and Steve Smith shared five well-deserved wickets, while Brett Lee was short of luck during a spell that was damaged after he leaked 17 runs in his final over.

As if to stamp his intent on proceedings, Watson coshed 14 from the first over of the reply and made 27 before his partner, Brad Haddin, had even faced a ball. Together they added 62 before Haddin, having contributed eight, mistimed a catch to midwicket for his second low score of the series.

Ponting was largely happy to enjoy his front-row seat for the Watson exhibition, which will please his Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne as much as it did Clarke. The punishment was never greater than in the 22nd over, when Shuvo was deposited for four leg-side sixes, illustrating Watson's fearful power against supine opponents.

Seeking parity at 1-1 after Shakib Al Hasan won the toss, Tamim Iqbal offered a flashy drive at Johnson in the second over and sliced to the left of the solitary slip where Shane Watson held an excellent catch. In the next over Lee and the rest of the Australians were convinced they had Imrul gloving a well-directed short ball behind, but a vociferous and sustained appeal went unheeded, decision reviews not being used during the series. Australia's disgust at not claiming the wicket would be alleviated across the next eight overs, as Imrul crawled to five from 41 balls, draining the innings of all momentum and then compounded his sin by swinging unwisely at Johnson to sky a leg-side catch.

The next man in, Raqibul Hasan, played down the wrong line at Hastings and was bowled for a duck, before Smith ripped a leg break between Shakib's bat and pad in his first over, leaving Shahriar to attempt to repair the damage. He had reached 56 when Smith flighted a leg break and was rewarded with the tamest of return catches, as the hosts slid to 88 for 5.

From this dire base developed a partnership between Mahmudullah and wicketkeeper Rahim, lifting Bangladesh into the realm of respectability with a combination of neat strokes and tidy running between the wickets. They were bracing for the batting Powerplay when Watson pinned Mahmudullah in front of middle stump, but Rahim, Shuvo and Shafiul Islam spirited away 59 runs from the final five overs to ensure a target that hinted at competitiveness.

The home side's only change was to withdraw Mashrafe Mortaza from the firing line, replaced by Rubel Hossain, after Mortaza was significantly down on his usual pace in the series opener. Given Watson's subsequent pyrotechnics, he may have been relieved to sit this one out.

Pune Warriors thrash Kings XI on IPL debut

Navi Mumbai: An audience poll at the start of the match asked if Kings XI Punjabwere the weakest team in the tournament. Around 64 percent said yes. Ten minutes into the game having elected to bat, Kings XI showed why.

Pune Warriors' new-ball pair of Alfonso Thomas and Shrikant Wagh reduced Kings XI to 9-4 in the fourth over. There was extra bounce and movement at the DYP Stadium wicket and there were a couple of bad shots. The chase for 112 was completed in the 14th over for the loss of three wickets. But the contest had already ended ten minutes into the match.

Yuvraj Singh's return to IPL captaincy and Pune Warriors' debut couldn't have been scripted better. Set 113 for the win, Pune lost three wickets in the process with Yuvraj and Robin Uthappa taking them home.

Alfonso bounced Gilchrist fourth ball of the game. Gilchrist gloved it to Robin Uthappa and then walked. In Wagh's first over, Shaun Marsh flicked a loose ball straight to fine leg.

In his next over, Alfonso bowled a short one to Paul Valthaty. The ball bounced higher than expected and Valthaty couldn't keep it down as the ball went for an easy catch to point. In the next over, Wagh bowled a short, wide one to Dinesh Karthik, who too couldn't control the upper-cut as it flew into third-man's lap for another easy catch. Wagh celebrated by pointing a finger to his head. He had outthought the batsman.

Ryan McLaren, the South African all-rounder, prolonged Kings XI's fight by making 51. The left-handed batsman and right-arm seamer had found no takers at the player auctions in January. But after Stuart Broad and Dmitri Mascarenhas pulled out of the IPL with injuries, Punjab bought him. For this game, it proved to be an invaluable move.

McLaren 35 with Piyush Chawla after they had slipped to 45-6. Some late big hitting took them into three-figures which had looked unlikely earlier.

Pune's chase began poorly when, first ball, Graeme Smith drove an out-swinging, full delivery fromPraveen Kumar to cover's hands. The only period where Pune were in some discomfort was during Abhishek Nayar's spell. The seamer was getting some movement and he had Mithun Manhas caught behind.

Punjab then dropped two catches off Nayar. Uthappa was put down in the cover by Nathan Rimmington. Yuvraj was missed by Karthik at slip. Having survived a couple of tight overs from Nayar, Yuvraj and Uthappa quickly completed the chase.

Played a maiden after 10 years: Virendra Sehwag

Explosive opener Virender Sehwag said that this was the first time in the last 10 years that he played a maiden over. The Delhi opener played 6 deliveries of fiery pacer Lasith Malinga without scoring a run in their game against Mumbai Indians at Delhi. 

                "Yes, I think after 10 years I played a maiden today. It was a plan. We lost two wickets so I thought let me play Malinga because others may not be able to pick him. We have 10 debutants in Delhi squad and it will take a little time for us to come together," Sehwag said. 

              The Daredevils, playing their first game in the tournament folded for a mere 95 runs thanks to a splendid bowling display by Malinga, who ended up with a five wicket haul. 

"A 140-150 is a good total here, but everything went Mumbai's way." 

                However, the Delhi skipper was confident the team will do better in their future games. "We have a good bowling unit and fielding. I am the only one who have played in the last three IPL. I am sure we will come good in the coming matches," he said. 

Lasith Malinga blows Delhi away & made Easy win to Mumbai

Mumbai Indians 99 for 2 (Tendulkar 46*) beat Delhi Daredevils 95 (Malinga 5-13) by eight wickets

When batsmen face Lasith Malinga, they know what's coming at them: several yorkers, some low full tosses, the odd slower ball. Some might not swing but everything will be aimed at the stumps. Knowledge wasn't power for Delhi Daredevils' batsmen, though, as Malinga ripped through them in two spells, claiming the third-best figures in the IPL. His five-wicket haul helped shoot out Delhi for 95, their second-lowest total, and ruin the contest before the sun had set at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

Malinga's performance allowed the Mumbai batsmen to chase in comfortable gear. Davy Jacobs' first stint as Sachin Tendulkar's opening partner was ended early by Morne Morkel and Roelof van der Merwe ran out Ambati Rayudu with a scintillating intercept, slide, turnaround and direct hit from extra cover, but that was it for Delhi. Tendulkar could not be dismissed and without the pressure of a high asking-rate he steered Mumbai to an eight-wicket victory with 19 balls to spare. In a format engineered to produce the exciting finish, this was a mismatch from the fifth over.

Delhi's strength was their top order and in Virender Sehwag and David Warner they possessed the most explosive openers of the tournament. Sehwag began aggressively by launching his first delivery, off Harbhajan Singh, miles in the air only for the ball to fall short of the straight boundary and plug in the outfield. He improved on that attempt the next ball, clearing long-off by a considerable distance, forcing Harbhajan to bowl quicker and flatter.

Enter Malinga, who had been retained by Mumbai, and he re-emphasised his value in no time at all. With his second ball, a pinpoint yorker, Malinga breached Warner's defences. With his fourth, a fast and straight delivery, he hit Unmukt Chand's middle stump.

Chand made the novice error of playing across the line to a Malinga arrow, a mistake Sehwag had committed in the World Cup final. Today Sehwag was watchful, defending Malinga with a straight bat when the line demanded it, but opening the face to guide to the third-man boundary when the width allowed it. He played out the 2011 IPL's first maiden over, seeing off Malinga's second without damage, and set himself to take on the rest of the bowlers.

That did not come to pass, though, for in the fifth over Aaron Finch came down the pitch to Ali Murtaza's left-arm spin, worked the ball off his pads towards short fine leg, and continued running. Sehwag hesitated and then responded, but was beaten by Tendulkar's direct hit. He had swooped on the ball with the agility of a much younger man. It was the decisive moment of the game. Finch did not last long either, slog-sweeping Harbhajan to deep-backward square leg, leaving Delhi on 40 for 4.

Naman Ojha, whose 29 was Delhi's top score, showed a semblance of resistance but his dismissal - caught on the long-off boundary - hastened the end of the innings. Irfan Pathan, bought for $1.9 million and playing his first competitive match in a year, was run out first ball.

And then Malinga returned, and inevitably the yorkers followed. He bowled Venugopal Rao with one, broke Morne Morkel's bat with another before dismissing him with a third next ball. Malinga finished with 5 for 13 - the fifth came with a slower ball - leaving his team with a straightforward chase.