Aggressive Mumbai end title drought

Mumbai Indians 148 for 9 (Pollard 60*, Bravo 4-42, Morkel 2-12) beat Chennai Super Kings 125 for 9 (Dhoni 63*, Johnson 2-19, Harbhajan 2-14) by 23 runs

Kept alive by Kieron Pollard's fighting 60 off 32, the Mumbai Indians bowlers attacked their way to a first IPL title. Mumbai were struggling at 52 for 4 in the 10th over, but Pollard batted through the innings to take them 148 even as wickets kept falling as the other end. Lasith Malinga and Mitchell Johnson then were too good for the Chennai Super Kings batsmen, yorking and bouncing them out.

Mumbai thump KKR to go second

In the increasingly intense fight for the play-offs, Mumbai Indians joined Rajasthan Royals at No. 2 hours after the latter had broken away with a win of their own. And the win came easy against the defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders. It was the kind of win that coaches love: almost everything went to plan. They won the toss, batted first, Sachin Tendulkar and Dinesh Karthik got them a target, and their superior attack shut Knight Riders out. Only a faulty light tower and some good fielding towards the end of Mumbai's innings posed any resistance.

Wankhede guard who fought Shah Rukh Khan gets off for Kolkata match today

Mumbai:  Vikas Dalvi, the security guard of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) who dared to stop Shah Rukh Khan from entering the Wankhede Stadium during the last IPL season, will not be on duty for the Mumbai Indians versus Kolkata Knight Riders match on Tuesday.

The MCA decided to give Dalvi a break today. "I will not be there for tomorrow's match. MCA has asked me to take leave to avoid any unnecessary attention," Dalvi told MiD DAY.

Mumbai Indians snaps Chennai Super Kings’ 7-match winning streak

Mumbai Indians on Sunday snapped Chennai Super Kings’ seven-match winning streak with a crushing 60-run victory in a lop-sided Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL) match in Mumbai.

Electing to bat, Mumbai scored 139 for five with captain Rohit Sharma top-scoring with a 30-ball 39 not out and then shot out Chennai for just 79 in 15.2 overs at Wankhede Stadium to halt the visiting team’s dream run in the tournament.

Pragyan Ojha (3/11) and Mitchell Johnson (3/27) shared six wickets among them while Lasith Malinga grabbed two wickets for just six runs. Harbhajan Singh and IPL debutant Pawan Suyal chipped in with a wicket each to help Mumbai put brakes on Chennai juggernaut in IPL 6.

Knight Riders stumble against Warner, Chand

A spirited performance on the field, followed by a resilient 95-run stand between David Warner and Unmukt Chand helped Delhi Daredevils add a third win to come level with Kolkata Knight Riders. Knight Riders are now level with Daredevils, squandering a two-point advantage. The task of making it to the playoffs, for both, remains a distant dream.

Pakistan leave Afridi out of Champions Trophy squad

Experienced all rounder Shahid Afridi has been left out of the Pakistan squad for the ICC Champions Trophy that will be held in England while selectors have warned Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik that they are running out of chances.

The 32-year-old, who has played 354 one-day internationals, was the only senior player overlooked for the tournament with chief selector Iqbal Qasim saying Afridi's bowling had cost him his place in the squad.

"Afridi's bowling has not been up to the mark in recent matches," he said in a news conference on Monday.

Dehli beat Pune by 15 runs

RAIPUR: A change in 'home' venue brought about a change in Delhi Daredevils' luck. The team that had lost seven of their eight games before this game, edged out Pune Warriors in a close finish at the swanky Veer Narayana Singh stadium on Sunday as Raipur made its debut on the T20 league map.

After Pune Warriors had made a strong start in chase of a target of 165, Daredevils bowlers hit back in the final overs to help their team clinch the issue by 15 runs, their just the second win of the season. With this win, Daredevils have finally managed to rise in the points table. The bottom place is occupied by Pune now.

Dhoni does it again as Chennai beat Hyderabad by 5 wickets

CHENNAI: It was that man MS Dhoni again for Chennai Super Kings. The CSK skipper played yet another blinder of an innings (67, 37 balls, 7x4, 4x6) to take his team home against Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Thursday night.

In what another tight finish, CSK needed 28 from the last two overs and 15 from the final one bowled by Ashish Reddy. Dhoni was equal to the task and took CSK past the post with two balls remaining as Reddy's lack of nerve proved costly for Sunrisers.

Chennai Super Kings trump Watson's century

CHENNAI: Rajasthan Royals' Shane Watson came up with the first century of the T20 league this season. However, his effort was not good enough for preventing Chennai Super Kings from notching up a thrilling five-wicket win on Monday night. CSK are now on top of the points tally. Watson's ton guided Royals to a very formidable total of 185 for four in their 20 overs. But Watson's Aussie mate, Michael Hussey made sure that the hosts were always in the game with a magnificent 88 (51 balls, 13x4, 1x6).

Openers swap does trick for Daredevils

Delhi Daredevils finally have their first points of IPL 2013, after cruising to a nine-wicket win against Mumbai Indians on Sunday. While it was quite a poor showing by Mumbai's new-ball bowlers, credit would have to go to Virender Sehwag and Mahela Jayawardene for captialising on the chances offered them and allowing Daredevils to close out the chase of 162 with three overs to spare.