IPL 4 Opening Match: Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders -
The most awaiting tournament of all the Indian Cricket lovers – The Indian Premier League (IPL) Season 4, will kick off on 8th April 2011 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, with an opening match between the defending champions Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders.
As per the IPL season 4 schedule announced the first stage matches will start from 8th April 2011 with a new play-off system introduced this year. Where the top four teams in the first stage of the tournament will qualify for the next knock out stage.
The top 4 teams from the first stage will play in the qualifier round of the next stage, where knock out matches will be held between teams finishing 1st and 2nd in the first stage and the winner of the Qualifier 1 will be advanced directly to the Final. While the loser of the match will be given a second chance to reach final stage by beating the winner of the Qualifier 2 match, which will be held between the teams finishing 3rd and 4th in the first stage. The winner from the elimination round will be advance to the finals, where it will face the winner of the qualifier 1.
This new format of the IPL season 4 is more exiting, most entertaining for the IPL fans. With such challenges right from the start of the tournament, it will be great to see each team fighting to gain the top spot in the IPL league.
Overall 10 team will be participating in the IPL 4, including the new franchises Kochi and Pune. This IPL edition will consist a total of 74 matches that will be held at 13 venues across India for a span of 51 days.
The IPL Fan get ready for the most exiting and entertaining IPL season 4, starting just few days after the ICC World Cup 2011 Final
India beat Australia by 5 wickets – qualified for Semifinals
An outstanding all-round performance from the Indian team helped them beat defending champions Australia by 5 wickets and also to qualify for the Semifinals. India will face its rival Pakistan in the Semifinal stage on Wednesday 30th March 2011.
Winning the toss first the Australian skipper decided to bat first. India start the proceeding with R Ashwin and Zaheer Khan. Despite the bowling attack from Indian, the Australian openers Shane Watson and Brad Haddin provided a decent start for the home team, contributing 40 runs in 10 overs. But Watson struggling against Ashwin, was clean bowled after scoring 25 runs from 38 balls.
However, Haddin and Skipper Ricky Ponting laid a foundation for the home team providing 70 runs for their second wicket stand. During which Haddin scored his half century, but could not continue as he became the victim of Yuvraj Singh after scoring 53 runs from 62 balls. Soon after Haddin’s dismissal, Yuvraj also removed Micheal Clarke scoring just 8 runs from 19 balls, who was trying to play big shots but was caught at long on by Zaheer Khan.
Micheal Hussey also failed to provide a big score for Australians, as he was caught in trap by Zaheer Khan, who bowled him on a slow delivery after scoring just 3 runs from 9 balls, leaving Australia at 150 runs for 4 wickets in 33.3 overs.
Things were looking good for the Australian team with Ponting and White were comfortable at crease scoring at a healthy run rate. But Zaheer Khan came back into attack and brilliantly caught and bowled White, who scored 12 runs from 22 balls. Australian were 190 runs for 5 wickets from 41.2 overs.
Things changed for the Australian team, when David Hussey arrived at crease. David started his innings with power shots and allowed his skipper Ponting to continue his calm innings to the century, they both contributed 55 runs in few overs. During which Ponting knocked his first century on the World Cup 2011. But Ashwin came back in attach and removed Ponting after scoring 104 runs from 118 balls. However, David Hussey (38 runs from 26 balls) along with Mitchell Johnson (6 runs from 6 balls) brought Australian inning end to a total of 260 runs for 6 wickets from 50 overs.
Zaheer Khan, R. Ashwin and Yuvraj Singh took 2 wickets each.
Chasing a total of 260 from 50 overs, the Indian opener batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag started with a cautious innings, proving a decent start of 44 runs from 8 overs. But Sehwag looking struggling to score against the Australian pace attack, left early on Shane Watson delivery after scoring just 15 runs from 22 balls, leaving India to a total of 44 runs for 1 wicket from 8.1 overs.
However, Sachin and Gautham Gambhir took the charge and laid a valiant start for the home team providing 50 runs for their second wicket stand. But soon after scoring half century Sachin was caught behind on Shaun Tait delivery, after scoring 53 runs from 68 balls. Gambhir along with Virat Kohli continued the flow of runs. They both scored 49 runs for their third wicket stand, before Kohli was caught by Clarke on full-toss delivery from David Hussey on 24 runs from 33 balls. Soon after scoring his half century, Gambhir was run out by White, after surviving two run out in the match earlier.
Soon after Gambhir departed, skipper MS Dhoni also lost his wickets, he was brilliantly caught by Clarke at point trying to make a fierce cut on Brett Lee’s delivery, causing Indian to a total of 187 runs for 5 wickets from 33.3 overs. It looked an embarrassing loss for the Indian team, who lost 3 wickets for just 45 runs.
However, Yuvraj along with Suresh Raina played a patient innings and provided India its victory and also fixed its spot in the Semi finals of the tournament with 14 ball to spare. During which Yuvraj scored 57 runs from 65 balls and Raina scored 34 runs from 28 balls.
Yuvraj Singh was named Man of the Match for his all-round performance, who took 2 wickets for 44 runs in 10 overs and also scored match winning 57 runs.
ICC Cricket World Cup 2011: Quarter Final Schedule -
After all the exciting and sensational groups matches held from 19th Feb 2011 to 20th Mar 2011, the eight top team from both the Group A and Group B qualified for the next knock out stage “Quarterfinals” starting from 23th March 2011 are:
Group A – Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand.
Group B – South Africa, India, England, West Indies.
Stay updated to this important matches even if you are at work, watch the game live on Internet, using the link provided below:
ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Online Streaming
Here are the fixtures of the above teams for the Quarterfinals stage:
1st Quarter Final: 23rd Mar 2011, Wed – Pakistan vs West Indies, 14:00 IST, Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka.
2nd Quarter Final: 24th Mar 2011, Thu – Australia vs India, 14:30 IST, Sardar Vallabhai Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad.
3rd Quarter Final: 25th Mar 2011, Fri – New Zealand vs South Africa, 14:00 IST, Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka.
4th Quarter Final: 26th Mar 2011, Sat – Sri Lanka vs England, 14:30 IST, R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
India beat West Indies by 80 runs -
Yuvraj
An outstanding performance Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan guided India to its big victory against West Indies by 80 runs. Winning the toss, the Indian skipper MS Dhoni decided to bat first. India got off to a bad start loosing the Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar in the very first over of the match, who was caught behind on Ravi Rampual’s delivery. On the other hand, his opening partner Gautham Gambhir and Virat Kohli provided India to a decent start scoring 51 runs in 8 overs. But Gambhir trying to play big shots against Rampaul was caught at third-man scoring just 22 runs from 26 balls. However, Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh look the charge and did not allow any of the West Indies bowler to take any more wickets. Both the batsmen scored runs of each West Indies bowlers and did not allow any of them to set. They contributed 122 runs for their 3rd wicket stand. But Rampaul came back into attack and bowled Kohli on a score of 59 runs from 76 balls, leaving India at 173 runs for 3 wickets from 32.2 overs. Yuvraj along with skipper MS Dhoni continued the flow of runs, meanwhile Yuvraj also scored his first century of World Cup 2011. Dhoni trying to play big shot against the spinner Devendra Bishoo was brilliantly stumped by wicketkeeper Devon Thomas on a score of 22 runs from 30 balls. After which non of the Indian batsmen were able to make any good partnerships and lost wickets at regular intervals. Yuvraj also was caught and bowled by Keiron Pollard, scoring 113 runs from 123 balls. Indian team were bowled out for 268 runs from 49.1 overs. Ravi Rampaul was the successful bowler to grab 5 wickets, while Andre Russel took 2 wickets. Defending a score of 269 runs the Indian skipper started the bowling attack with spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, but the West Indies openers Devon Smith and Kirk Edwards had a decent start scoring 34 runs from 6 overs, before they lost the first wicket in form of Edwards scoring 17 runs from 17 balls to Ashwin. However, Smith along with Darren Bravo continued the flow of runs and did not allow any of the Indian spinner Harbhajan singh and Ashwin to grab any more wickets. They contributed 57 runs for their 2nd wicket stand. But Bravo trying to pulls the short ball down to long-on from Suresh Raina, was caught by Harbhajan, scoring 22 runs from 29 balls. Smith and Ramnaresh Sarwan took the charge and continued the momentum. They contributed 63 runs for their 4th wicket stand, during which Smith knock his half century. As it was looking an easy win for the West Indies side with 154 for 2 wickets in 30 overs. Zaheer Khan came back in attack and removed Smith at 81 runs from 97 balls. Harbhajan Singh also removed the dangerous Keiron Pollard cheaply on 1 run from 3 balls, leaving West Indies 157 for 4 wickets in 32 overs. After which, pacer Zaheer Khan and spinner Yuvraj singh did not allow any of the West Indies player to set on the crease. West Indies lost wickets in regular intervals, Sarwan also got dismissed by Zaheer scoring just 39 runs from 68 balls. In the last 13 overs, the West Indies team lost its last 8 wickets for just 34 runs. They were bowled out for 188 runs from 43 overs. Zaheer Khan was the successful bowler to take 3 wickets for 26 runs, while Yuvraj and Ashwin took 2 wickets each. Yuvraj Singh was named Man of the Match for this Century and 2 important wickets. Indian Team will now face Australia in the Quarterfinals on 24th March 2011 at Sardar Vallabhai Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad.
Pakistan vs Zimbabwe: Match Preview -
After their stunning loss against New Zealand by a huge margin of 110 runs, Pakistan will today face Zimbabwe at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy in Sri Lanka.
Pakistan team had a sensational start of the tournament with three wins in a row, until they lost the match against New Zealand. Kamran Akmal lazy work behind the stump was the main reason for their failure. Pakistan team are known for their unpredictable performances and they often make come back with great performances which can be dangerous for all the teams.
Looking at the Pakistan team, they are facing a huge problem with their opener batsmen Mohammed Hafees and Ahmed Shehzad have failed to provide the Pakistan team a better start. While most of the time runs flowed from the brilliance of their Middle order batsmen Misbah ul Haq and Younis Khan and also by the Akmal brothers. As far as bowling is concerned Pakistani skipper Shahid Afridi has been in an outstanding performance, who played a major role in all the three victories of the team. Though Shahid Afridi has not scored many runs with the bat, but he is the top wicket-taker in the tournament with 15 wickets in four matches. He played an stunning role in their last win against Canada, where he took 5 wickets to win the match and also restricted a low score of 184 runs. Pacers Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul and Abdul Razzaq who looked marvelous in all the early three matches, but could not do the same against New Zealand’s batsmen, specially Ross Taylor, who did not allow any Pakistani bowler to settle down and hit them out of the park. But the Pakistani Team is hopeful to make a come back to register their spot in the Quarterfinals.
While the Zimbabwean had been struggling for win against all the big team in the tournament so far. However, they won the game against the Canadian with a huge margin. The Zimbabweans can be a dangerous for the Pakistani side as they have good batting line-up with Brendon Taylor, Charles Coventry, Tatenda Taibu, Craig Ervine .Also they have a great support from lower order batsmen like skipper Elton Chigumbura and Prosper Utseya, who are capable of taking the game away from the opposition with there all-round performances. Ray Price the most attacking Zimbabwean bowler can be dangerous for the Struggling Pakistani batsmen. Still the Zimbabwean’s have a tougher task against the Pakistan
