Kolkata First Finalist In IPL 2012

Kolkata Knight Riders 162 for 4 (Yusuf 40*) beat Delhi Daredevils 144 for 8 (Jayawardene 40, Kallis 2-24, Narine 2-24) by 18 runs

After four seasons of at times embarrassing underachievement, Kolkata Knight Riders will play for the IPL trophy on Sunday. For almost two-thirds of the qualifier against Delhi Daredevils, they nearly blew it, though the odds were stacked in their favour right from the start. On a pitch where the first ball of spin turned sharply, Knight Riders had three spinners waiting; Delhi Daredevils stuck to playing three specialist fast bowlers.

Daredevils' strategy did not seem to have backfired when Knight Riders lumbered to 106 for 4 in 16 overs. In the chase, despite losing Virender Sehwag and David Warner in the first 13 balls, Daredevils were right in the hunt at 83 for 2 after 10 overs. But like they had suddenly bolted away in the last four overs of their innings, Knight Riders choked Daredevils in the latter half of the chase. Daredevils did not help their cause, sending Pawan Negi ahead of Ross Taylor, who finally came in at No. 7 when the asking-rate was more than 14 an over.

The late boost that carried Knight Riders to a challenging total on the difficult pitch came from the unlikeliest quarters. Yusuf Pathan, who had done almost nothing the entire season, and Laxmi Shukla, playing in place of an unfit Manoj Tiwary, carted the quicks for 56 off the final four overs, and 36 off the final two, as Knight Riders surged to 162.

Gautam Gambhir had once again given Knight Riders a strong start, taking the fast bowlers for several boundaries. He had sped to 32 off 16 deliveries before he failed to make his ground to a direct hit from mid-off after having backed up too far. Not for the first time after Gambhir's departure, Knight Riders lost their way. Only 58 runs came off the next ten overs as Negi, the left-arm spinner, and Irfan Pathan strangled the batsmen.

Just when it seemed Knight Riders had wasted Gambhir's efforts upfront, Yusuf and Shukla launched into the quicks, who did not let up on the pace. Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav kept bowling in the late 140s with Morne Morkel not far behind. But the faster they bowled, the ball only came on better on the slow pitch.

Yusuf began the assault in the 17th over, carting a Morkel length ball for a straight six. Shukla took the lead in the 19th, making room to loft Morkel over extra cover for four and pulling him over deep square leg for six. It was to get worse for Daredevils in the last over. David Warner dropped Yusuf as he ran across from long-on and ended up parrying it for six. Yusuf cover-drove and flicked the last two deliveries for fours.

The core of the attack that had taken Daredevils to No. 1 position after the league stage had been taken apart. Yadav and Morkel went for 37 each, Aaron for 48, including 21 in that final over.

The last thing Daredevils needed at that stage was a rough decision, and pat it came in the second over of the chase. Warner, who had just smashed Shakib Al Hasan for six over long-on, missed the next ball as he pushed forward, but was given out caught by umpire Billy Doctrove as the ball popped up to the wicketkeeper off the pad. Sehwag departed next ball, edging an attempted cut off the impressive L Balaji to the keeper.

Just when it seemed Daredevils had done themselves in even before Sunil Narine came on, Naman Ojha and Mahela Jayawardene responded with the highest stand of the match. The duo took Shakib, who had a forgettable game, for 15 runs in the fourth over. Bowling too quick to get any bite from the surface, Shakib was lofted inside-out and down the ground for two fours and a six.

Though the general lack of pace in the Knight Riders attack started to make its presence felt, Ojha and Jayawardene kept the runs coming. The duo was in control when Ojha cut a long hop from Bhatia straight to Gambhir at backward point. A few tight overs and Venugopal Rao's struggle further increased the pressure on Jayawardene. The threat of Narine, who gave just seven runs in his first two overs, forced him to attack the other bowlers, eventually leading to him being stumped off Abdulla in the 15th over.

With 55 needed off 32, Sehwag sent in Negi ahead of Taylor, who hit his third ball from Narine for six over wide long-on. But it was too late by then. Daredevils have another chance to get it right in the second qualifier on Friday.

Pune Warriors v Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2012, Pune

Rajasthan Royals 126 for 3 (Watson 90*) beat Pune Warriors 125 for 6 (Majumdar 30, Tait 3-13) by seven wickets

Shaun Tait set it up and Shane Watson finished the job in clinical fashion. Rajasthan Royals delivered a seven-wicket drubbing to a low on morale Pune Warriors and moved to fourth in the points table. Warriors looking to reverse a five-match losing streak, struggled against restrictive Royals bowling to post 125, but lacked the firepower to cause a scare. After an impressive start to the tournament, they limped out of the race for the playoffs.

Royals conceded just five fours - the least in a completed innings this season - and were spearheaded by Tait, who took 3 for 13. Unlike Royals, who duly opened with the aggressive Watson, Warriors saved their power hitters for the middle order. Sourav Ganguly promoted himself to open after, curiously, coming in at No.7 against Kolkata Knight Riders. It was a questionable move having Ganguly and Michael Clarke right at the top, given that they aren't the quickest scorers in the line-up. What followed was a sluggish opening passage, in which the Powerplay overs had 14 dots.

Ganguly charged the seamers, made room, but failed to find the timing to match his intentions. Clarke's drives failed to find the middle of the bat, often resulting in edges and mistimed flicks. Both openers were searching for a release, but the slower balls and the wicketkeeper Dishant Yagnik standing up to the stumps thwarted them.

Warriors lost Ganguly as he miscued a pull off Tait, giving a swirling catch to square leg. Despite Warriors struggling to find the boundaries, they persisted with their conservative approach by promoting little-known Bengal batsman Anustup Majumdar ahead of more aggressive options like Angelo Mathews and Steven Smith.

Only two fours were scored in the first ten overs, the lowest this season. Save for the first over, never at any stage in that period did the rate go above six an over. Majumdar interrupted a 42-ball snoozefest when he gave Ankeet Chavan a charge and launched him for the first of two sixes over wide long-on in the 11th over, which cost 16 runs - the most expensive of the innings.

However, his cameo didn't last longer than 20 balls when he was yorked by a 98.4 kph missile from Johan Botha the following over. The last eight overs produced just 46 runs to give Warriors a total well under par.

Royals lost their star player Ajinkya Rahane for a duck courtesy a brilliant one-handed catch at point by Smith. Smith nearly pulled off a freak catch at the boundary which would have sent Watson back on 11, if the rule on outfield catches hadn't been tweaked. After going deep in his crease to pound a six off Murali Kartik, he repeated the shot four balls later. Smith cupped the ball over his head, realised the momentum was taking him over the rope and threw the ball up. He was outside the field of play and airborne when he palmed the ball back in front of the rope, deeming it a six, owing to the rule change.

Watson capitalised on that lifeline and proceeded to hammer boundaries. At the end of five overs, Royals had hit five fours and two sixes, the same number Warriors managed in 20. Watson tore into Ashish Nehra, clipping two half volleys to the leg side for fours, before pulling another loosener over fine leg for six to bring up his fifty. Watson scored a massive 71.4% of the team's total, underlining his dominance on a pitch which flummoxed 11 Warriors.

Royals coasted home with 22 balls remaining, making it one of the more one-sided encounters this season. Warriors, with eight points from 13 games, now have only pride to play for.

Pune Warriors v Mumbai Indians, IPL 2012, Pune,Cricinfo

Mumbai Indians 120 for 9 (Tendulkar 34, Bhuvneshwar 2-9, Nehra 2-19) beat Pune Warriors 119 for 6 (Manhas 42*, Harbhajan 2-18, Malinga 2-25) by one run

In the end, Mumbai Indians deserved two points for having rendered a target of 121 so difficult that Pune Warriors played catch-up for most of the chase. And the one-run margin magnified the impact of Sourav Ganguly's crawl in the final analysis. There were other Warriors batsmen who found run-scoring difficult on the low pitch, but they did not hang around for as long as Ganguly did and consequently, did not make it as difficult for the doughty Mithun Manhas as Ganguly did.

When Ganguly arrived at 40 for 2 in the seventh over, the asking-rate was just over six runs an over. By the time he was bowled for 16 off 24 by Lasith Malinga off the last ball of the 17th over, slogging and missing tamely, the asking-rate had climbed to nine. Manhas tried to make the most of the strike he got in a 47-run fifth-wicket stand in which Ganguly contributed 13. But he was up against a class Mumbai Indians attack, and with Malinga to bowl two overs at the death, Warriors' chances diminished even further. They needed 12 off the final over, but Munaf Patel managed to hold them off, just about.

The early damage had been done by Munaf when he trapped Robin Uthappa lbw, after the batsman had kickstarted the chase with some big strokes. Mumbai Indians' battery of specialist spinners - though one of them, Robin Peterson, was never used - then broke the back of Warriors' chase. Jesse Ryder chipped Harbhajan Singh to long-on, Michael Clarke got a rough lbw decision and Steven Smith walked past a Pragyan Ojha delivery to be bowled. Warriors had slipped from 40 for 1 to 47 for 4 but with 74 needed from 61, they were right in the game still.

Ganguly's innings ensured they slowly went out of it. He was on 12 off 22 at one stage, unable to earn anything more than singles. He managed to make room and lift Malinga down the ground for a four, but was bowled in the same over.

Manhas wasn't giving up, though. Backing himself to cut almost everything, he and Wayne Parnell took 11 off Pragyan Ojha in the 18th over. But Harbhajan had another over from Malinga left, and it did what Morne Morkel's penultimate over had done for Delhi Daredevils against Rajasthan Royals. Malinga gave just four runs, and left Warriors with too much to do in the last over.

With eight needed off the last two balls, Bhuvneshwar Kumar drilled Munaf over extra cover for four, but could only hit a low full toss - the final ball - to deep midwicket as Warriors ended agonizingly short.

That Mumbai Indians managed even 120 was down to the opening partnership between Sachin Tendulkar and James Franklin. Mumbai Indians did not begin badly for a side that has now changed its opening combination seven times in ten matches. Well past the halfway stage of the tournament, they might have finally even found the combination that clicks. Tendulkar and Franklin added fifty-plus runs for the third time in as many matches, but Mumbai Indians could not build much on that base, losing 5 for 12 from a position of 81 for 2 after 12 overs.

Warriors were accurate with their fast bowlers. Smith led the way in the field with three run-outs, two of them at crucial junctures. He first ran out Rohit Sharma to dent Mumbai Indians after the steady start, and then caught Thisara Perera short to hurt their hopes of a lower-order fightback.

Ashish Nehra recovered from an expensive first over to go for just five runs in his next three overs. It was Nehra who triggered the collapse, getting Tendulkar to edge a steer to the wicketkeeper in the 12th over. He then surprised Peterson with a skiddy short delivery in the 14th, and the top-edged pull was taken by Ganguly.

The middle-order implosion undid the decent start from Tendulkar and Franklin. The duo were kept quiet by Warriors but took Nehra and Ashok Dinda for an expensive over each to ensure the run-rate did not suffer much. Bhuvneshwar got the breakthrough in the eighth over when Franklin top-edged a pull.

Tendulkar could not pick up his scoring-rate beyond a run a ball, and after he fell, Mumbai Indians stalled. Ganguly could not score at remotely close to a run a ball, and after he finally fell, it was too late for Warriors, who have now lost six of their last seven games.