1. Chennai Super Kings Beat Kolkata Knight Riders, at Chennai The fourth IPL season began on April 8, with an opening game between defending champions Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders. In a match that went down to the wire, CSK prevailed by 2 runs. Batting first CSK managed a modest score of 153/4 off their 20 overs. KKR’s batting line-up was surely up to the task but a bizarre decision by skipper Gambhir to come down the order at number 6 was partly to blame for the loss. 2. Rajasthan Royals Beat Deccan Chargers, at Hyderabad DC hosted RR in the second game of IPL 4, on April 8. Batting first, DC could manage just 137/8. RR chased down the target, with 7 balls to spare and losing just 2 wickets in the process. 3. Royal Challengers Bangalore Beat Kochi Tuskers Kerala, at Kochi KTK chose to bat and put up 161/5. RCB cantered to the target with 8 balls and 6 wickets to spare, on the back of De Villier’s 54 not out. 4. Mumbai Indians Beat Delhi Daredevils, at Delhi Malinga proved deadly for DD, as his 5/13 saw the hosts, who won the toss and batted, collapse to 95 all out. MI won with 8 wickets in hand. 5. Pune Warriors Beat Kings XI Punjab, at Mumbai KXIP elected to bat first, and McLaren’s late order fifty helped them to 112/8 after an early collapse had the visitors down at 6/45. The target did not trouble PW who lost just 3 wickets in the chase. 6. Kolkata Knight Riders Beat Deccan Chargers, at Kolkata KKR chose to bat first and got 163/4 in their 20 overs. DC fell short by 9 runs, with Iqbal Abdullah (3/29) doing a star turn for KKR. 7. Rajasthan Royals Beat Delhi Daredevils, at Jaipur DD chose to bat on winning the toss but their 151/ 6 was never going to be enough on a placid track. RR won with 9 balls and 6 wickets to spare. 8. Mumbai Indians Beat Royal Challengers Bangalore, at Bangalore Put in to bat, RCB only managed a score of 140/4. MI chased it down losing the solitary wicket of Jacobs. 9. Kings XI Punjab Beat Chennai Super Kings, at Mohali CSK were nt detered by the loss of two wickets in the first two balls of the match, and would have fancoied themselves to win after pilingup 188/4, the highest score so far in IPL 4. But they had not reckoned with Valthaty, promoted to an opening slot by KXIP. The young opener played a blinder, scoring 120, as he carried his team to a 6-wicket win.. 10. Pune Warriors Beat Kochi Tuskers Kerala, at Mumbai Electing to bat first, KTK managed just 148/8, after a flurry of early wickets. PW won with 7 balls and 4 wickets to spare. 11. Deccan Chargers Beat Royal Challengers Bangalore, at Hyderabad Chipli scored a brilliant 61 off 35 balls helping DC to 175/5. RCB whose to field fell short by 33 runs, as DC’s Steyn and Gony took three wickets each. 12. Kolkata Knight Riders Beat Rajasthan Royals, at Jaipur KKR chose to field and RR made 159/4. The target was never going to be enough, as Kallis and Gambhir in imperious form got there with 9 balls to spare. 13. Kochi Tuskers Kerala Beat Mumbai Indians, at Mumbai KTK invited MI to bat after Jayawardene won the toss. MI scored 182/ 2, with Tendulkar completing his maiden T20 century, off the last ball. KTK made light of the target, riding on a 128-run opening stand between McCullum and Jayawardene. 14. Chennai Super Kings Beat Royal Challengers Bangalore, at Chennai The return of the Australians from their tour of Bangladesh helped CSK, when Mike Hussey led them to a score of 183/5. RCB fell short by 21 runs, losing 7 wickets in the process. 15. Kings XI Punjab Beat Deccan Chargers, at Hyderabad Put in to bat, DC made 165/8. KXIP won in the 18th over, on the back of an all-round show by Valthaty. 16. Delhi Daredevils Beat Pune Warriors, at Mumbai DD won the toss and elected to field. PW put up a daunting score of 187/5, on the back of Yuvraj’s 66. DD chased the target successfully, in a team effort, with several batsmen contributing. 17. Kolkata Knight Riders Beat Rajasthan Royals, at Kolkata KKR put RR in to bat after winning the toss, and bundled out the visitors for a paltry 81. The hosts chased down the target for the loss of only 2 wickets, in the 14th over. 18. Kochi Tuskers Kerala Beat Chennai Super Kings, at Kochi Kochi won the toss and elected to bowl, and their decision seemed justified when CSK lost Mike Hussey, early in the proceedings. Then came a brisk stand between Vijay and Raina, before rain stopped play, with the score tantalisingly poised at 65/2 off 9 overs. The rain stoppage lasted for over an hour, resulting in the number of overs being reduced under the D/L method. CSK reached 131, off the revised duration of 17 overs, which was never going to be enough on a wicket that did not aid the bowlers. Kochi, set a D/L target of 135, achieved it with two overs to spare. 19. Deccan Chargers Beat Delhi Daredevils, at Delhi Electing to bat first, DC managed a competitive 168/4, on the back of opener Sohal’s 62 off 41 balls, and his partnership of 92 for the second wicket, with skipper Sangakkara who made 49. Sehwag flopped as DD fell short by 16 runs. The turning point of the game when DC on 90/3 lost the in-form Venugopal Rao, in the 13th over. Warner, who top scored with 51 off 48, departed 11 balls later to leave DD floundering, at 99/5. For DC, Christian and Harmeet took two wickets each. 20. Royal Challengers Bangalore Vs Rajasthan Royals, at Bangalore Rain played spoilsport as the game was abandoned without a ball being bowled. The teams shared a point each. 21. Mumbai Indians Beat Pune Warriors, at Mumbai PW chose to bat first and could manage just 118, bowled out in the 18th over. MI made heavy weather of the target and got to it on the last ball of the innings, to wrap up a six-wicket win. 22. Kochi Tuskers Kerala Beat Kolkata Knight Riders, at Kolkata Hosts KKR’s decision to field first appeared to have paid off when KTK collapsed to 132/7. But on a bowler-friendly wicket, the hosts fell short by 6 runs, as KTK completed their third win on the trot. 23. Kings XI Punjab Beat Rajasthan Royals, at Mohali RR put KXIP in to bat, and must have regretted the decision when after 4 overs the hosts were 67/0, with Valthaty carrying on from where he had left off. In the event, the final score of 195/7 (against an expectation of 200-plus) would have given RR a semblance of hope, especially with the likes of Watson in their ranks. Early wickets snuffed out any chance of victory and RR ended their innings at 147/7. 24. Royal Challengers Bangalore Beat Kolkata Knight Riders, at Kolkata The toss proved crucial, after RCB elected to field. KKR began well and at one stage were 102/1 at the beginning of the 14th over, with Kallis and Gambhir looking solid. But the KKR innings came unraveled after Kallis’s departure and despite reaching 171, they would have known they were 20 to 30 runs short. But nothing would have prepared them for the Gayle blast that followed. Gayle’s 107 in 55 balls with 10 fours and 7 sixes saw RCB home with 11 balls to spare. 25. Mumbai Indians Beat Chennai Super Kings, at Mumbai In arguably the biggest game of IPL 4, so far, Dhoni won the toss and elected to field on what was a two-paced wicket. Early wickets of Sathish and Tendulkar saw the visitors wrest the initiative. But they hadn’t reckoned with Rohit Sharma who played a brilliant innings to get his team’s score up to a competitive 164/4. In their reply, CSK were cruising along at 98/2 in the 12th over, when Pollard took a diving catch to dismiss Hussey who top edged a Malinga delivery that climbed on him. That was the turning point of the game, as CSK lost wickets at regular intervals, thereafter. Badrinath’s gritty knock was nt enough to prevent CSK from falling short by 9 runs. Harbhajan took 5 wickets to get back to bowling form on a day the MI fielding exceeded expectations. CSK did not help their cause with some dicey selection decisions. Joginder Sharma in particular appears to be Dhoni’s personal favourite. 26. Delhi Daredevils Beat Kings XI Punjab, at Delhi Gilchrist chose to bowl after winning the toss and the Delhi openers welomed the invitation to bat with a 146 run opening stand that took the game away from the visitors. Both batsmen scored 77 each, to set up Delhi’s massive score of 231/4. KXIP made a gallant effort and got to 202/6 on the back of a brilliant 95 off 46 balls by Marsh. But Gilchrist’s men did not look like winning the match at any point of the game. DD prevailed in what was a must-win match for them But the over-reliance on a few batsmen like Sehwag and Warner does not bode well for Delhi, if they want to go all the way. 27. Mumbai Indians Beat Deccan Chargers, at Hyderabad Winning the toss, Sangakkara put Mumbai in to bat on what looked like a flat track. From 70/1, Mumbai slid to 70/4 and DC were clear favourites at that stage to win the game. But they hadn’t reckoned with Rohit Sharma and Symonds who put on 102 runs for the 5th wicket, to boost MI to 172/4. Deccan’s chase faltered after Sohal’s run out in the 2nd over. But at 41/1 in the 6th over, they appeared to have steadied their ship. Malinga’s yorking of Dhawan triggered a regular fall of wickets from which DC never recovered, reaching 135/8 in the allotted 20 overs. Malinga’s 3/9 in 4 overs underscored his impending threat to any rival team that aspires to win IPL 4. 28. Rajasthan Royals Beat Kochi Tuskers Kerala, at Jaipur There is a perceptible pattern in this edition of the IPL.; KTK had three wins in a row and that streak came to an end against RR; earlier KTK had broken KKR’s similar winning run. Warne came into his element and laid KTK low with a spell of 3/16, after putting the hosts in to bat. He was helped by Trivedi who took 3/19, as KTK finished on 109. McCullum was absent on the day and barring Parthiv Patel and Jadeja, there was no resistance from any KTK batsman. The pair took their team to a launch pad of 90/5 in 15 overs, but the slog never came, as the innings fell apart. RR chased down the target with nearly 6 overs to spare with Watson and Dravid giving the initial impetus with an opening partnership of 71. 29. Chennai Super Kings Beat Pune Warriors, at Chennai Invited to bat, by PW, CSK began steadily, with openers Vijay and Hussey putting on 64 for the first wicket before Vijay departed in the 10th over. With Raina falling cheaply, once again, the hosts wobbled and even Dhoni’s arrival did not boost the run-rate greatly. Taylor took 3 wickets, as PW managed to contain CSK to 142, a score that looked eminently getable. Morkel, Bollinger and Ashwin put the squeeze on PW, who slid to 40/3 in the power play, and never recovered after that. PW finished at 117/9, handing Dhoni’s wards a 25-run victory. 30. Royal Challengers Bangalore Beat Delhi Daredevils, At Delhi RCB elected to bat and their decision appeared justified when DD slumped to 68/3 in the 10th over. Zaheer Khan provided RCB an early breakthrough when he clean bowled the in-form Warner. Sehwag, continuing in the same vein as against RR, struck 3 fours in his 18- ball 25, but the DD innings flagged after the DD captain was run out in the 7th over.
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