Ganguly inspires Pune to beat Delhi

DELHI: Captain Sourav Ganguly’s allround performance guided Pune Warriors to beat Delhi Daredevils by 20 runs in the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League here at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium on Saturday.

The former India captain first hit 41 and then grabbed two wickets to lead his team from the front while Australia’s Steven Smith also contributed 32..

But the star was New Zealand batsman Jesse Ryder who smashed 86 from 58 balls with four sixes. He together with Ganguly added 93 for the second wicket stand which helped Pune plunder 192 for three in 20 overs.

However, Delhi accepted the challenge as captain Virender Sehwag blasted 57 off 32 balls with four sixes and five fours but as soon he got out other batsmen could not resist against Pune bowlers except England batsman Kevin Pietersen, who made 32 with three sixes.

South African pacer Alfonso Thomas captured three wickets for 22 runs besides Ganguly’s 2-27.

Pakistan’s first sports tv channel Geo Super televised the match live from Delhi.

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Chennai emerge victorious in tight game

CHENNAI: Chennai Super Kings held their nerves to win by 13 runs against Pune Warriors to whom they had lost five days ago.

Chasing 165, Pune needed 21 off the last over but they could not manage due to some sharp catching and fierce bowling by Chennai and in the end they were restricted to 151 for seven in the allotted 20 overs.

Main contributors for Pune were Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews (27), West Indies’ Marlon Samuels (26), captain Sourav Ganguly (24) and Australia’s Steven Smith (23).

Sri Lankan Nuwan Kularasekara and West Indian Dwayne Bravo took two wickets each for 10 and 28, respectively.

Earlier, openers Faf du Plessis (58) of South Africa and Subramaniam Badrinath (57) provided a solid start of 116 runs in 15.3 overs to Chennai who batted first after being sent in by Pune. This was the first century opening stand of the tournament.

Captain Mahinder Singh Dhoni also blasted a 12-ball 28 with fours and a six.

For Pune, Marlon Samuels of the West Indies captured three wickets and India’s pacer Ashish Nehra claimed two.

The match was shown live by Geo Super, the first sports tv channel of Pakistan.

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Pietersen ton powers Delhi to 5-wkt win

DELHI: England batsman Kevin Pietersen completed a brilliant century and also a five-wicket win for his team Delhi Daredevils with a six in the final over against Deccan Chargers in the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League here at the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground on Thursday.

Chasing 158, the Daredevils reached the target in 19.1 overs with Kevin Pietersen on 103 and India’s Yogesh Nagar on 23 not out.

Pietersen dominated the Delhi innings, smashing nine sixes and six boundaries in his 64-ball knock. He was later adjudged Man-of-the-Match.

This was second individual hundred in this tournament after Ajinkya Rahane, who made 103 not out for Rajasthan Royals against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

For Deccan, South Africa’s fast bowler Dayle Steyn took two wickets for 19 runs.

Earlier, Deccan after winning the toss batted first and made 157 for eight in the allotted 20 overs.

Main scorers were Parthiv Patel (45) and Shikhar Dhawan (44) and each of them hit a six and five fours.

Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem and South African pace-bowler claimed three wickets each for 16 and 23, respectively.

Geo Super, Pakistan’s premier sports television channel showed this match live from Delhi.

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Chennai outplay Deccan by 74 runs in IPL

Visakhapatnam: Ravindra Jadeja’s impressive allround performance guided Chennai Super Kings to defeat Deccan Chargers by 74 runs in the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League here at the Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

First he top scored with a breezy 48 from 29 balls and later he displayed the best bowling performance grabbing five wickets for just 16 runs to demolish Deccan batting lineup.

He struck three sixes and as many fours while Dwayne Bravo hit an unbeaten 43 off 18 balls with five sixes and Faf du Plessis made 39 off 25 balls with four sixes and a four.

Chennai Super Kings amassed 183 for six in the allotted 20 overs and then bowled out Deccan Chargers for 119 runs in 17.1 overs.

Main scorers were captain Cameron White (23), Shikhar Dhawan (21) and Parthiv Patel (20).

Geo Super showed this match live from the venue.

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PCB's PPL initiative attracts companies

LAHORE: The launching of Pakistan Premier League (PPL) received a boost when four companies expressed interests in the project.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been working on the proposal to launch an international Twenty20 league in Pakistan since 2007.

Director International PCB, Intikhab Alam told Geo News that 4-5 companies are interested in the PPL and we have invited them for a presentation next week to discuss modalities of the tournament.

'It could be held anytime after the T20 World Cup later this year.'

COO PCB Subhan Ahmed noted that the Board is very serious in organizing the league and working hard to attract huge investment.

Pakistan has been unable to host international cricket since March 2009, when Sri Lanka's was attacked while going towards stadium.

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