Spark Spot

Deccan Chargers will be looking to get back to wining ways against last year’s runners-up Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League. For Super Kings it is just the opposite. They are on a two-match winning streak and will be hoping to make a hat-trick of wins, which was done by Deccan Chargers early on in the league.

This time under a new captain in Adam Gilchrist, Deccan Chargers have forced everyone to stand up and take notice of their performance. Their batting has looked solid with Gilchrist leading the charge. Youngsters like Rohit Sharma and Azhar Bilakhia have also come out with good innings.

The bowlers also have done well, especially fast bowlers Rudra Pratap Singh and Fidel Edwards. Rudra Pratap is the second highest wicket-taker in the IPL while Edwards has checked the run flow. Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha has been one of the most successful spinner in the second IPL and was chief architect in Chargers’ win over Mumbai Indians.Batting and bowling aside, Deccan Chargers’ fielding has been exceptional. Live wire fielders like Herschelle Gibbs and Sharma have really set the benchmarks on the field.

Not doubt it will be a challenge for the Super Kings to put a challenging total on board. Except Suresh Raina and Subramaniam Badrinath, big names like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Jacob Oram and Albie Morkel are due for a big score.Their opening pair has been a problem.

While the veteran Matthew Hayden has been in fine nick, he hasn’t got good support from the other end. Parthiv Patel looked out of sorts and his replacement Murali Vijay was a misfit in the Twenty20. The bowlers have come up with good performances. Saturday night little known Shadab Jakat spun Super Kings to a terrific win over Daredevils. Sudip Tyagi and the wily Muttiah Muralitharan have been economical.

So can Chennai make it three in a row by smashing chargers. Lets hope so!

Chennai super kings, one of the victorious team in the last season of IPL, is playing very ordinary cricket in this season of IPL. Chennai led by Dhoni, inspite of having a pretty balanced team in the paper, is not performing even upto 70% of its strength. Matthew Hayden, 37 year old aussie player, is the only man showing great amusing stuffs with his bat in the same way as he use to do for Aistralia.

Chennai has no problems with the start and the run rate is more than good in the powerplay overs. But the middle order fails in all the matches so far. The 11-15 overs is really a period of worry for super kings. I personally feel that Dhoni should look into the team selection for the next match and he has to get the right combination going.

Chennai, one of the most favorite team is struggling a lot at the moment against all teams. Chennai fans are really frustrated over their teams efforts in this season of IPL.  Chennai should their best in order to clinch their position in the semi finals. Let us hope that Chennai Super Kings fires all guns in the upcoming matches by playing to the expectation.

Indian Premier League is all set to commence on April 18 at South Africa. The second season of IPL is ready to entertain us. IPL is played in a entertaining T20 foramt which is adored by all the cricket lovers.The teams to participate in IPL are : Chennai Super Kings, Kolkatta Knight Riders, Bangalore Royal Challengers, Hyderabad Deccan Chargers, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Dare Devils, Rajasthan Royals, Kings XI Punjab. Get Ready for the exciting tournament. IPL rocks!!!

IPL Matches Schedule 2009

Date                                                   Matches
Apr 18     Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings -  Cape Town
Apr 18     Rajasthan Royals vs Bangalore Royal Challengers - Cape Town

Apr 19     Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab -  Cape Town
Apr 19     Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight Riders -  Cape Town

Apr 20     Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers - Port Elizabeth

Apr 21     Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders - Durban
Apr 21     Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians - Durban

Apr 22     Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Deccan Chargers - Cape Town

Apr 23     Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Daredevils - Durban
Apr 23     Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals - Cape Town

Apr 24     Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Kings XI Punjab - Durban

Apr 25     Mumbai Indians vs Deccan Chargers - Durban
Apr 25     Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders - Cape Town

Apr 26     Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Delhi Daredevils - Port Elizabeth
Apr 26     Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals - Cape Town

Apr 27     Deccan Chargers vs Chennai Super Kings - Durban
Apr 27     Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians - Port Elizabeth

Apr 28     Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals - Pretoria

Apr 29     Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers - Durban
Apr 29     Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians - Durban

Apr 30     Deccan Chargers vs Delhi Daredevils - Pretoria
Apr 30     Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings - Pretoria

May 1     Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders - East London
May 1     Kings XI Punjab vs Bangalore Royal Challengers - Durban

May 2     Deccan Chargers vs Rajasthan Royals - Port Elizabeth
May 2     Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Super Kings - Johannesburg

May 3     Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab - Port Elizabeth
May 3     Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Mumbai Indians - Johannesburg

May 4     Chennai Super Kings vs Deccan Chargers - East London

May 5     Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab - Durban
May 5     Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight Riders - Durban

May 6     Deccan Chargers vs Mumbai Indians - Pretoria

May 7     Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Rajasthan Royals - Pretoria
May 7     Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings - Pretoria

May 8     Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians - East London

May 9     Deccan Chargers vs Kings XI Punjab - Kimberley
May 9     Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals - Kimberley

May 10     Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers - Port Elizabeth
May 10     Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Daredevils - Johannesburg

May 11     Rajasthan Royals vs Deccan Chargers - Kimberley

May 12     Royal Challengers vs Kolkata Knight Riders - Pretoria
May 12     Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab - Pretoria

May 13     Delhi Daredevils vs Deccan Chargers - Durban

May 14     Royal Challengers vs Chennai Super Kings - Durban
May 14     Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals - Durban

May 15     Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Daredevils - Bloemfontein

May 16     Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians - Port Elizabeth
May 16     Kolkata Knight Riders vs Deccan Chargers - Johannesburg

May 17     Kings XI Punjab vs Deccan Chargers - Johannesburg
May 17     Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils - Bloemfontein

May 18     Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings- Pretoria

May 19     Delhi Daredevils vs  Royal Challengers - Johannesburg

May 20     Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders - Durban
May 20     Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab - Durban

May 21     Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Daredevils - Pretoria
May 21     Deccan Chargers vs  Royal Challengers - Pretoria

May 22                        Semi Final 1 - Pretoria
May 23                       Semi Final 2 - Johannesburg

May 24                            FINAL - Johannesburg

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