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.

Royal Challengers Bangalore v Pune Warriors, Bangalore,Cricinfo

Royal Challengers Bangalore 186 for 4 (Gayle 81, Tiwary 36*, de Villiers 33*) beat Pune Warriors 182 for 6 (Uthappa 69, Ryder 34, Samuels 34) by six wickets

Chris Gayle was going at around a run a ball against some tight bowling. Then he calmly decided to shift gears. The bowling ceased to matter; five consecutive sixes came against the bowler with one of the best economy-rates in the IPL, Rahul Sharma. Treating that Rahul over as an aberration, Pune Warriors responded with more tight bowling, with Ashish Nehra yorking Gayle. But AB de Villiers and Saurabh Tiwaryhit 24 off the final over, bowled by Nehra, to pull off an improbable win, Royal Challengers Bangalore's first in four games.

For more than three-quarters of the game, the Royal Challengers had played catch-up to the Warriors. After Robin Uthappa's 69 took the visitors to 182, they had kept the Royal Challengers, and Gayle, in check for 12 overs. Gayle and Virat Kohli, game-changers both, had crawled along in a partnership of 30 in 35 deliveries. The asking-rate had ballooned to over 13, with 111 needed from 50. It claimed Kohli, who found deep point as he tried to hit out.

Kohli's dismissal fired up Gayle, who was on 37 off 35 then. Rahul bowled short, he bowled full, he went around the stumps, he went wide of the crease, he went wide of Gayle. To no avail. Five consecutive sixes later, the asking-rate was down by more than a couple of runs.

Warriors were stunned but they recovered quickly. Ashok Dinda, battling a painful side strain, conceded just 12 in two overs, including seven off the penultimate one with Royal Challengers needing 28 from 12. In between, Nehra had, for once, found the perfect yorker to send Gayle back for 81 off 48.

De Villiers and Tiwary kept the Royal Challengers in the hunt, hitting a six each to take 16 off the 18th over bowled by Angelo Mathews. Dinda's final over, the19th, seemed to have left Royal Challengers too much to get in the 20th over - 21.

De Villiers scrambled outside off to play the scoop off the second delivery in the final over, arming it past the wicketkeeper for four. Nehra delivered a low full toss and a length ball next. De Villiers smoked one straight down the ground for six; the next one was scooped nervelessly for another six over fine leg. With three needed off the last ball, Tiwary swung a length ball over the long-on boundary even as the rain came pouring down. Marlon Samuels, who had gone for under three an over, had two overs left.

Somehow, the Royal Challengers' batsmen had delivered after their bowlers had once again conceded a substantial score. Uthappa did most of the scoring with a power-packed half-century at the top of the order with Jesse Ryder and Samuels chipping in with smaller contributions.

The opening partnership between Uthappa and Ryder was worth 63 in seven overs. By then, Uthappa was in complete control. He timed three consecutive reverse-sweeps off Dilshan, with two of them beating short third man. He was put down by KP Appanna at long-off, a tough diving chance off Vinay Kumar in the 12th over but departed in the next as he sliced Daniel Vettori to point. The Warriors went at the same rate of around nine an over after Uthappa's dismissal with Samuels smashing the spinners for a couple of sixes. As it turned out, though, even 13 an over wasn't enough to deny Gayle, De Villiers and Tiwary.

Kings XI Punjab v Pune Warriors, IPL 2012, Mohali,Cricinfo

Mascarenhas take five wickets-for gives Punjab first win

Dimitri Mascarenhas and Shaun Marsh were the architects of a comfortable win for Kings XI Punjab, their first this IPL after a poor start to the season. Mascarenhas picked up his second five-for in Twenty20 cricket, in conditions perfectly suited to his accuracy and medium pace. His performance helped bowl out Pune Warriors for just 115 on a slow track, and Shaun Marsh ensured the chase was on track with a composed half-century that marked his own return to form.

On a Mohali track that had some grass and one that was livened up with some rain last night, the Kings XI seamers justified their captain's decision to field, deriving swing and movement with some accurate bowling and picking up wickets at a steady pace in the process. After the early loss of Jesse Ryder, who was run out thanks to a late decision against a single by his partner Sourav Ganguly, Praveen Kumar, Parvinder Awana and Mascarenhas went about slowing down the innings considerably. Praveen got significant away movement and surprised the batsmen with ones that nipped back in.

The top order hasn't really fired for the Warriors and the trend continued. After promising much with a couple of delightful shots, Ganguly was dismissed thanks to the introduction of Mascarenhas. He got rid of Ganguly with some away movement that produced a leading edge, and saw off an edgy Marlon Samuels with a lovely delivery that moved just at the right time to clip the off stump.

At the other end, with the Warriors soon reduced to 29 for 3, Uthappa was forced to curb his natural instincts but found an able partner in Mithun Manhas, whose swift running and busy approach didn't allow his side to buckle down significantly. Interspersed between a spate of singles and twos were a couple of useful boundaries from Manhas, a wristy smack over Piyush Chawla's head standing out.

The 26-run stand for the fifth wicket ended when Uthappa holed out against Mascarenhas in his second spell and Steven Smith followed not long after, bowled off an inside edge. Smith and Uthappa had played a critical role in the Warriors' previous two wins, chipping in with cameos that proved crucial in the outcome, but weren't able to push on today.

Mascarenhas returned to trouble the Warriors more in his final spell, and wasn't perturbed when struck for a huge six over extra cover by Manhas. He stuck to a straight line, bowling Manhas the very next ball as he tried the scoop, and picked his fifth as Rahul Sharma skied one to deep midwicket; the innings was wrapped up shortly after.

Barring a first-ball setback when Paul Valthaty was cleaned up by Ashok Dinda, Kings XI never really strayed off the track in the chase. Marsh, whose last seven Test innings have yielded just 17 runs, began his innings in style, pulling Dinda through midwicket. It didn't help the Warriors that their fielding was poor, with misfields, overthrows, a missed run-out and a couple of dropped catches preventing them from putting up a fight.

Together with Adam Gilchrist, Marsh saw off the early pressure with two crunching boundaries off Samuels through the off side and Gilchrist matched him, smacking Angelo Mathews for successive fours in the last over of the field restrictions. Marsh, who was reprieved when on 31 and 41, was ruthless when offered width and his adeptness at playing the pull allowed the Warriors bowlers little margin for error. Both timing and power were on display, a classy flick over midwicket off Nehra and a towering six over long-on off Rahul Sharma typifying both those features.

Chawla, promoted above David Hussey, gave Marsh good company and sealed the win, the Warriors doing their bit to hasten it through some sloppy fielding.