Ojha, Jadeja, RP in India’s T20 WC squad

RP Singh’s inspired performance in the ongoing IPL Monday earned him a recall to the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup in England this June.

RP, who was integral part of the 2007 T20 World Cup winning squad, had been struggling with his form ever since. His performance, however, in the second edition of the IPL in South Africa showed that he is back to his bowling best.

Two other players who have long shown promise and backed it with performance at every given opportunity – spinner Pragyan Ojha and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja – were also included in the 15-man squad announced by the BCCI.

The squad will be led by MS Dhoni and Virender Sehwag will be his deputy.

Among the notable exclusion from the 2007 title winning squad is hard-hitting batsman Robin Uthappa. Pacer Munaf Patel too has been axed.

The selectors last month had announced 30 probables and pruned the list on Monday.

Among those who could not make it to the final 15 are wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik, Tamil Nadu opener M Vijay, Mumbai trio of Ajinkya Rahane, Dhawal Kulkarni and Abhishek Nayar, Tamil Nadu batsman S Badrinath, Delhi batsman Virat Kohli, Bengal duo of Manoj Tiwary and Wriddhiman Saha, Haryana leggie Amit Mishra, Tamil Nadu pacer L Balaji and Madhya Pradesh stumper Naman Ojha.

Tamil Nadu off-spinner R Ashwin, who was named back-up for Harbhajan Singh, also failed to survive the pruning exercise.

Squad: M S Dhoni (c), Virender Sehwag (v-c), Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, RP Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Pragyan Ojha and Irfan Pathan.

Undefeated Pathan powers Rajasthan to IPL victory

Yusuf Pathan was the 62-run hero on Tuesday as title holders Rajasthan Royals defeated Delhi Daredevils by five wickets in an Indian Premier League thriller.

Although a Delhi team boasting a perfect record from three outings made only a modest 143-7 in their 20 overs at Centurion Park, they held a slender edge until the closing overs of the Rajasthan innings.

Pathan hit consecutive sixes in the 13th over, repeated the feat five later and hit the boundary that lifted Rajasthan to 147-5 in 18.3 overs and their second victory in five outings.

In trouble at 64-5 when captain and Australia legend Shane Warne was an unhappy stumping victim for a duck, Royals deperately needed saviours and found them in Pathan and South Africa captain Graeme Smith.

Quickfire Pathan struck six sixes and three fours in his 30-ball spell at the crease while the unbeaten 44 of the more cautious Smith included five fours.

Ashish Mishra was easily the most successful Delhi bowler with 3-34 in four overs while no one suffered more than New Zealand veteran Daniel Vettori, who conceded 32 runs in 12 balls.

Winning the toss and opting to bat, Delhi lost the wickets of openers Gautam Gambhir (8) and Virender Sehwag (16) to Dimitri Mascarenhas in the third over and were indebted to South African AB de Villiers.

He struck one six and five fours off 40 balls at his provincial home ground before being trapped leg before by Warne having completed his half century in perfect conditions on a wicket expected to yield more runs.

Manuf Patel (2-14) returned the most impressive figures in the Rajasthan attack with Mascarenhas (2-28) and inspirational leader Warne (2-32) also making significant contributions.

Rajasthan Royals beat Delhi Daredevils by 5 wickets

Yusuf Pathan struck a blistering half century while Graeme Smith muscled his way to a belligerent 42 to power Rajasthan Royals to a five wicket victory over Delhi Daredevils at the SuperSport Park.

Chasing a modest 144, Rajasthan Royals rode on Pathan’s buccaneering 62 of 30 balls and Smith’s sensible 42 off 46 balls to cruise to 147 for five in 18.3 overs to register their second victory of the tournament and end Daredevils winning run.

Elected to bat, earlier, a fighting half-century from AB de Villiers and some lusty hitting down the order from Daniel Vettori and Mithun Manhas helped Delhi Daredevils post 143 for seven after Rajasthan bowlers sent packing four Delhi top-order batsmen with the scoreboard reading 49.

The Royals started their run chase on a cautious note but were little unlucky as Rob Quiney (4) departed early lbw to Nehra, but TV replays clearly showed he hit the ball.

Swapnil Asnodkar (11), demoted from the opening position, showed glimpses of his last year’s brilliance, picking up 10 runs off Pradeep Sangwan’s first over before running himself out in search of a non-existent single.

Next man in Paul Valthaty (1) didn’t trouble the scorers.

Graeme Smith, on the other hand, played the role of a sheet anchor, but didn’t get ample support from the other end.

The strategic timeout seemed to have worked in Delhi’s favour as Mishra struck twice after the break, first dismissing Jadeja caught in the deep by Sangwan and then stumped Rajasthan skipper Shane Warne.

But Pathan had other plans as hit two consecutive sixes and a four of Vettori to take 19 runs of the 13th over and signal his intentions.

As if that was not enoungh, neeeding 35 off 24 balls, Mishra gave away 18 runs in his last over, courtesy a six and four from Pathan and a boundary from Smith.

Pathan was in a hurry to wrap up the proceedings and hit Nehra for consecutive sixes and four to draw curtains on the match.

Earlier, De Villiers (50 off 40) and Vettori (29) ensured that Delhi put up a decent total, stitching together a crucial 56-run sixth-wicket.

It was a dream start for the Royals as the dynamic Delhi opening duo of Virender Sehwag (16) and Gautam Gambhir (8) failed to make make any impact once again.

Dimitri Mascarenhas (2/28) picked up the opening duo Sehwag and Gambhir in his eventful second over after the Delhi skipper clobbered him for two boundaries.

Gambhir was the first to depart when skipper Shane Warne latched on to a blinder at the first slip in the third ball of Mascarenhas’ second over.

Sehwag, who hit the Englishman for a six in the very first ball he faced, followed soon, giving a skier to Kamran Khan at mid-on after hitting Mascarenhas for a boundary.

First change Munaf Patel (2/14) struck gold in his very first over when in-form Tillakaratne Dilshan’s (7) ambitious pull found Swapnil Asnodkar at square-leg.

Skipper Warne (2/32) added more woes for Delhi when he picked up Dinesh Karthik in his first over with the wicketkeeper batsman giving away a simple catch back to the Australian.

Delhi could have been reduced to 66 for five at the halfway mark had Munaf not bowled a no ball in the ninth over with Vettori edging one to Warne at first slip.

The Delhi batsmen, who found runs hard to come by, picked up their tempo in the 12th over with Vettori first hitting Ravindra Jadeja for a boundary and then De Dilliers managed another to take 13 runs of that over.

De Villiers was little lucky as Yusuf Pathan squandered an easy run out opportunity in the next over after the South African dispatched him to the stands in the previous delivery.

But it took the inspirational Rajasthan captain to break the partnership, trapping dangerman De Villiers in front of the wicket, but not before the right-hander scored his fifty.

However, Vettori and Mithun Manhas (23 off 16) were in no mood to give up and their lusty hitting at the end ensured a respectable score for Daredevils.

India Name Preliminary Squad For ICC World T20

India have named their 30-man preliminary squad for the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England in June, leaving out four of the players who helped the side win the inaugural 2007 event in South Africa.

There is no place for all-rounder Joginder Sharma, fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, leg-spinner Piyush Chawla or all-rounder Agit Agarkar.

The young squad will once again be led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni while at 30, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh are the oldest players named.

The likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Ravi Ashwin, Subramaniam Badrinath, Wriddhiman Saha and Naman Ojha, all uncapped, have been selected on the back of impressive performances in domestic cricket.

India beat traditional rivals by five runs in the 2007 final.

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Ravichandra Ashwin, Lakshmipathy BalajiSubramaniam Badrinath, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay Krishna, Dhawal Kuklarani, Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra, Abhishek Nayar, Naman Ojha, Pragyan Ojha, Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Wriddhiman Saha, Virender Sehwag, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Rudra Pratap Singh, Manoj Tiwary, Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan

Warne leads top wicket-taker’s list

Statistical highlights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Rajasthan Royals  and Kolkata Knight Riders [Images] in Cape Town.

# Ajantha Mendis  (2/19) has registered his best IPL performance, overcoming the one for 24 against Kings XI Punjab at Kolkata on May 25, 2008.

# Dimitri Mascarenhas (27 off 28 balls) has posted his best IPL innings.

# Yusuf Pathan  played a vital role against Kolkata Knight Riders and got his fifth Man of the Match award, equalling Shaun Marsh’s tally of five such awards. Marsh and Yusuf share the record for most MOM awards (5).

# Thanks to his entertaining knock against Kolkata Knight Riders, Yusuf Pathan (42 off 21 balls) has become the top run-getter for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL – 488 (ave.30.50) including four fifties, with a strike rate of 175.53 in 18 matches.

# Shane Watson  472 (ave.47.20) in 15 matches – had held the record previously for Rajasthan Royals.

# With 23 wickets at 19.43 runs apiece, Shane Warne has surpassed Sohail Tanvir’s  tally of 22 at an average of 12.09. Warne is now the leading wicket-taker in the IPL.

# Chris Gayle’s tally of 9 sixes is the highest by any batsman in the 2009 edition, surpassing Rohit Sharma’s tally (7).

# Mahesh Rawat, with 14 dismissals has set an IPL record for most dismissals by a wicketkeeper, outstripping Adam Gilchrist’s tally of 12.

# Sourav Ganguly top-scored in the game with a brilliant innings of 46 off 30 balls. He has amassed 396 runs at an average of 28.28, including three fifties in the IPL.

# The game between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders produced the first ever tie in IPL. Rajasthan earned two vital points in the process after the ‘Super Over’, moving into the fourth position in the points table.

Pathan takes Rajasthan to thrilling super over win

Yusuf Pathan slammed 18 runs off four balls as the Rajasthan Royals snatched victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders in a ‘super over’ after their Indian Premier League match ended in a tie at Newlands on Thursday.

Kolkata needed only seven to win off the last over of the normal match, bowled by teenaged left-arm fast bowler Kamran Khan.

After starting the over with a wide, Khan, 18, dismissed former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly for 46 with his fifth ball.

With two needed to win off the last ball, Ishant Sharma hit a fierce drive which was parried by Royals captain Shane Warne at cover. The batsmen ran one but Sharma was run out attempting the winning run.

Khan was entrusted with the ‘super over’ and was struck for three successive fours by Chris Gayle as the Knight Riders scored 15 for one, with Gayle caught off the last ball.

Sri Lankan mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis, who took two for 19 in four overs in the match, bowled the ‘super over’ for Kolkata but Pathan hit him for 6, 2, 6, 4.

Chasing a modest total of 150 for six, Kolkata twice seemed headed for victory. Gayle was in imperious form as he hit 41 off 33 balls before falling to Warne.

The pendulum swung to the Royals with 44 needed off 25 balls.

But Ganguly slammed a no-ball from Munaf Patel for six, then made use of the free hit off the next ball to thrash another six.

With the target reduced to 31 off 24 balls, Ganguly seemed set to take Kolkata home before chasing a wide ball from Khan to be caught behind.

Pathan, who top-scored with 42 in his team’s full innings, was named man of the match.

Match 7 :Watch Mumbai Indians Vs Rajsthan Royals IPL 2009 Live streaming

Watch Mumbai Indians Vs Rajsthan Royals IPL 2009 Live streaming

Mumbai Indians

vs

Rajsthan Royals
Venue :Kingsmead, Durban
Live action starts from: 14:30 GMT (20:00 IST)
T20 IPL 2009 Match

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2nd match Live: Royal Challengers Vs Rajasthan Royals at Cape

Rajasthan Royals Skipper Shane Warne Leading from the Front, Defending Champion Royals will miss the service of Paksitan Fast Bowler Sohail Tanvir.

The Highest paid England Cricketer Kevin Pietersen will lead the Royal Challengers. Last Year Royal Challenger was total failur. Can Pietersen create some magic against the Defending Champion.