West Indies triumph in low-scoring battle

On the fourth day Ravi Rampaul and Darren Sammy were spot on, as West Indies registered their first Test win in over two years

Quite suitably, it took an up and down day to end an up and down Test, a cracker between two faltering sides. At the end West Indies had wrapped up their first and most significant Test win in over two years, since they beat England at the start of 2009. Ravi Rampaul and captain Darren Sammy were at the centre of it, taking eight wickets between them to lead the side to a 40-run win in Providence. Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal battled but Pakistan had been outplayed, their batting as brittle as ash.

Though Sammy took five wickets, Rampaul was actually the key, the best fast bowler in this Test by some distance. Devendra Bishoo's arrival has taken the limelight away from Rampaul, for whom, in a normal non-dysfunctional cricket set-up, this would be hailed as a breakthrough performance. He's bustled in all game, with pace, intelligence and movement.

He was terrific yesterday and began similarly today, generating incoming swerve and then more off the surface. Asad Shafiq's charmed but vital hand was defeated early by one such delivery, coming in and going through. He gave little away in that first six-over spell. Then, after lunch as the ball softened and got old, he raced in for a spell of subtle reverse swing, dismissing the stubborn Abdur Rehman in his second over back.

In between, Sammy took over, playing a real captain's hand. Bishoo and Kemar Roach had looked particularly flat in the morning, so Sammy brought himself in and at his gentle pace, immediately started getting some inswing. The key intervention came in his third over - two wickets in three balls turned around what was becoming Pakistan's morning. He found enough late in-drift to first trap Misbah and then Mohammad Salman lbw; the latter's leg-before took the total number of such dismissals in this Test to a world-record 18.

After tea he picked up three more in a similarly simple manner: pitch on a length on off and bring it in. Umar Gul was first and then came the killer blow, Akmal. The pair were trapped in successive overs before Saeed Ajmal was bowled to cap the win.

With Misbah and Umar putting on a breezy 52 in the morning, the game had been shifting into Pakistan's control. But the fragility of their batting is swiftly becoming legendary, especially in chasing small-ish targets. Misbah continued his extraordinary revival as captain-batsman with a seventh fifty in eight Test innings, employing a familiar method designed to frustrate and exhilarate equally. Most deliveries he blocked, as you might with the Most Exaggerated Forward Defense in world cricket.

But he does possess a keener mind than most Pakistani batsmen and his mini-assault in the morning on Bishoo was well-conceived. Having been tied down against him through the Test, he suddenly lofted him straight for a big six. In the next over, he lofted him through midwicket for a boundary and the field spread, Bishoo a little rattled.

With him, Akmal provided such easy impetus that the surface was forgotten about. He'd already cut a faltering Bishoo, before producing a sumptuous drive on the up off Rampaul. Soon he began to look so good, cutting square, picking through the leg side as well as driving to bring the target under 100, that a rash dismissal felt inevitable, as it so often does with him.

At lunch, he was still around though, poised between his most significant Test innings and yet another pretty but futile hand, and the game was just about still on. Post lunch, he went soon enough, another of the latter in his bag, and one of Pakistan's more shocking recent Test defeats was sealed.

We had the belief - Sammy

Darren Sammy led by example

"This is what West Indies cricket is about," Darren Sammy, the team's captain, said after a morale-boosting win over Pakistan in the first Test in Providence. There was much talk off the field in the lead-up to this Test: there was criticism about Sammy's form, the absence of key players from the squad for the series, differences between senior players and the board, but West Indies emerged victors in a low-scoring encounter to put those issues on the back-burner. They also ended up depriving Pakistan of an opportunity to win a Test series in the West Indies for the first time.

"We as a team needed this performance," Sammy, who picked up a five-wicket haul in the second innings to bowl out Pakistan for 178, said. "Lately, things hadn't been going well but I had the belief, this team had the belief."

Sammy failed with the bat, but finished the game with seven wickets. Two other performances stood out for West Indies, that of Devendra Bishoo in his debut Test and Ravi Rampaul, who had taken only four wickets in five Tests prior to the match, but took seven in the game, including crucial strikes early in both innings. "Rampaul looks fit, and has worked really hard with Ottis Gibson [the West Indies coach]. It was a tough decision to pick between him and Fidel Edwards," Sammy said.

Pakistan were 80 for 3 overnight, chasing 219, but lost Asad Shafiq early on the fourth day. Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, and Umar Akmal put together a half-century stand but there wasn't much support from the lower order against a spirited West Indies performance. Misbah acknowledged the better team had won.

"To lose this Test is disappointing, they played better cricket and bowled disciplined lines," he said. Misbah praised Saeed Ajmal for his maiden ten-wicket haul in Tests - Ajmal finished with 11 - but rued missed opportunities and allowing the last-wicket pair of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Devendra Bishoo to extend the lead to 218 in the second innings.

"We dropped so many catches and gave away so many runs to the lower order. We were a little disappointing from the batting point of view also," Misbah said. "We fought well yesterday [Saturday] to recover after losing early wickets, but most of our guys got out to good balls."

Can Deccan end Pune's slim chances?

Match facts

Monday, May 16, Navi Mumbai
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)

	Can Pune keep their slender hopes alive?

Big Picture

Kolkata Knight Riders' loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore has kept Pune Warriors' wafer-thin chances of making the play-offs alive. They would need a host of results to go in their favour, apart from having to win their three remaining games by big margins to get their net run-rate up. That would seem an uphill task for a side that managed to lose seven consecutive matches earlier this season, but Pune have begun a semblance of a turnaround with two wins on the trot.

Pune's bowling attack has been responsible for these victories, keeping the opposition to modest totals which the batting has had no problems in chasing. Deccan Chargers bore the brunt of Mitchell Marsh's four-wicket haul the last time these two sides met, in Hyderabad, but their surprise victory over Mumbai Indians would have given them some much-needed confidence. Deccan are already out of the reckoning for the play-offs. Can they spoil Pune's chances in Kumar Sangakkara's last IPL game this season?

Form guide (most recent first)

Pune Warriors: WWLLL (eighth on points table)
Deccan Chargers: WLLLL (ninth on points table)

Team talk

Pune made only one change to their XI in the previous game, with Sourav Ganguly finally coming in. There shouldn't be any further changes tomorrow, and their four seamers should enjoy the bounce at the DY Patil Stadium.

Deccan brought in Michael Lumb in place of Dale Steyn against Mumbai, and continued to persist with Daniel Christian, who made 18 off 23 deliveries. IPL debutant Anand Rajan was given the last over against Mumbai ahead of Christian. It's a question that has been repeated throughout this season; will Sangakkara stick with Christian? Steyn should ideally return in his place.

In the spotlight

Manish Pandey has been mostly solid so far but has struggled to get away the big hits, with a strike-rate of 106.15 in seven matches. He showed some glimpses of his much-talked about potential with his 49 against Deccan in Hyderabad. Can he continue to provide starts for Pune along with Jesse Ryder?

Amit Mishra was the reason why Deccan shocked Mumbai. Mishra hit Munaf Patel for four consecutive boundaries in the last over of Deccan's innings before giving only 18 in his four overs for the wicket of Andrew Symonds. Pune would be wary of Deccan's leading wicket-taker.

Prime numbers

• Pune are the only team without any batsman having scored 300 or more runs in this season
• Yuvraj Singh has hit 17 sixes, the fourth-most in this IPL

The chatter

"This is the first time I have seen Amit from up close keeping to him. He's got all the tricks the legspinner should have. At the same time what is important for a leggie is that he's got a huge heart, very strong character."
Kumar Sangakkara is much impressed by Amit Mishra

Kochi stay mathematically alive with a thumping win

Shane Warne is bowled by fellow Victorian Brad Hodge

The short boundaries in Indore proved to be bad masters for Rajasthan Royals. The small playing field seemed to be playing on their minds as batsman after batsman in the middle order perished to reckless strokes. Brad Hodge was at the receiving end of those gifts, ending up with a career-best 4 for 13, but it was perhaps a tight first spell from Sreesanth - three overs for 15 runs and the wickets of Rahul Dravid and Ajinkya Rahane - that set the desperation in. Kochi chased the paltry 98 in style, giving their net run-rate a boost too.

Coming into the game, both the teams had an outside chance of making it to the play-offs, but Rajasthan didn't seem too optimistic on that front. They knew the remoteness of the outside chance, and took the opportunity to make six changes to their side. Rajasthan now stand knocked out, and Kochi, with 12 points from 13 games, need to win their last game and need Kolkata and Punjab to lose theirs.

None of Rajasthan's experiments worked. RP Singh and Sreesanth offered no freebies. Faiz Fazal was caught plumb in front by a full toss before Sreesanth got Dravid with a nice outswinger. Rahane followed up a flick from wide outside off to mid-on with a shuffle too far across, making it 26 for 3 in 5.2 overs.

Rajasthan didn't look to rebuild; they knew they would need a substantial total here. Ashok Menaria began with a six off Sreesanth, Shane Watson with three off debutant left-arm spinner P Prashanth. At 56 for 3 after eight, it seemed like Rajasthan were on their way back, but Watson played all around a full delivery from Prasanth Parameswaran.

Match Meter

• 
  KTK
• Rajasthan lose three early Sreesanth and RP Singh put in good opening spells to reduce Rajasthan to 22 for 3.

• 
  KTK
• Hodge runs through the middle Brad Hodge picks up four wickets to negate all Rajasthan's attempts at a recovery.

• 
  KTK
• Tait bowls a no-ball Shaun Tait gets Brendon McCullum in the first over, but off a no-ball. McCullum's three sixes in the next over abolish any outside chance Rajasthan have.

 Advantage Honours even

Now began the Hodge show. He kept tossing the ball up, the Rajasthan batsmen kept trying to hit the ball into the jungles of Madhya Pradesh. All of Hodge's four victims thought they could hit him for sixes; they could not have been more wrong. Pinal Shah managed to go as far as long-on, Jacob Oram failed to even get a touch, Shane Warne dragged one slog-sweep on, and Menaria found long-off. When Menaria fell, Rajasthan had slumped to 89 for 9 in the 16th over, and they were not going to get many more.

Brendon McCullum came out obsessed with improving his team's net run-rate, charging at Shaun Tait first ball. Tait didn't do himself any favours, bowling two no-balls in the first over. One of them - when he cut the side crease - had bowled McCullum. After hitting Tait for a four and six in the first over, McCullum proceeded to treat Oram as a club bowler, nonchalantly flicking him for three straight sixes. When MCullum fell for a 12-ball 29, it was important for Kochi to keep scoring fast. Hodge and Parthiv Patel didn't disappoint, ending the chase in 7.2 overs. It was the second-biggest win in terms of balls remaining in IPLs and the fourth-biggest in all Twenty20 matches.

Average Delhi keep Punjab's campaign alive

Irfan Pathan surprised everyone by rediscovering old-ball swing, but not much else changed for Delhi as they continued to flounder

The scorecard will say Paul Valthaty hammered 62 to power Punjab to an eventually match-winning 170, but that's not even half the story. Through 50 balls of clueless flailing, Valthaty put on a display completely out of place in the beautiful setting that is Dharamsala. Delhi Daredevils matched his ordinariness with a shoddy show on the field, followed by the sort of batting display that can be expected from a one-man team, when that one man is missing. Punjab's bowlers, led by a resurgent Piyush Chawla, capitalised on Delhi's woes to run to their third win on the trot, keeping their late-blooming campaign alive.

Match Meter KXIP Delhi blunders: Yogesh Nagar messes up a run-out in the third over, and Venugopal Rao drops a chance in the fourth KXIP Valthaty plunders: Valthaty cashes in despite never looking in control, and smashes Hopes for 18 runs in the 11th over KXIP Marsh goes berserk: Marsh takes a leaf out of the Valthaty book - Sriram leaks 25 runs in the 13th over, as Delhi lose their grip on the game KXIP Warner and Ojha crawl: Praveen's maiden comes in a phase where Delhi play out 10 successive dot balls. Alarm bells. KXIP Chawla takes it home: Chawla dismantles the middle order with three wickets in three overs. Game over.  Advantage Honours even

By all counts it was an average game of cricket, and the tone for the ordinariness was set right at the start. There was swing for Irfan Pathan, but not enough pace. There were swings of Adam Gilchrist's bat, but not too many connections. At the other end, Morne Morkel's other-worldly bounce systematically exposed Valthaty's limitations. The pressure was on Punjab and the chances promptly followed, but Delhi graciously fluffed them. Yogesh Nagar and Irfan combined to mess up a straightforward run-out opportunity, before Venugopal Rao dropped a chance at slip. Delhi's generosity was duly reciprocated by Punjab, as Gilchrist gifted his wicket soon after the botched run-out. It was like watching two football sides trying to outdo each other in an own-goal contest.

Shaun Marsh's advent sought to bring sanity to the proceedings - he began by charming Aavishkar Salvi over mid-on, before shredding him through point - but Valthaty's methods continued to spoil the scenery. Initially he attempted on-the-up thumps, regardless of length, and often missed by ridiculously large margins. He later tried to counter the bounce with cuts, but rarely made contact. He then resorted to the pull, and it was soon evident why he doesn't play that shot too often. On the one occasion when he managed to middle the ball, Varun Aaron at fine-leg ran in too far, and the ball sailed over the boundary.

Valthaty eventually found his match against James Hopes' trundle and ignited the innings with two violent sixes over the leg-side and an edged four through third man. Bowling listless lengths to Valthaty wasn't Hopes' biggest mistake of the innings though. He brought on S Sriram's nondescript left-arm spin in the 13th over and Marsh indulged himself to some slog-sweeping violence. The over bled 25, including three big sixes over the leg side, as Punjab galloped from 70 for 1 in ten overs to 115 for 1 in 13.

Delhi managed to contain the damage in the remaining overs, through Aaron's pace, and Irfan's surprising rediscovery of old-ball swing. Marsh and Valthaty perished to Irfan's stock indippers off successive balls in the 15th over. Delhi could have taken control in the next over, but Naman Ojha grassed a chance to let off Dinesh Karthik, allowing Punjab to motor along to 170.

Delhi's chase followed a now-familiar template: David Warner's shocking loss of form - he had cobbled up 47 runs in his last six innings before the game - and Virender Sehwag's absence meant the innings lost steam quickly. Along with Naman Ojha, Warner played out ten successive dot balls early on, in the process giving Praveen Kumar his fourth maiden of the season. Ojha eventually found release by clouting Shalabh Srivastava for two sixes and a four in the sixth over, but it proved to be a false dawn. Ojha guided Srivastava behind in the eighth over for a run-a-ball 28, before Warner miscued the same bowler for a run-a-ball 29. Run-a-balls were, however, not going to be enough.

Chawla has endured a rough time recently: he struggled for impact in the World Cup and his place in the team became a national debate; his struggles continued in the IPL, and he's been left out for the West Indies ODIs. On Sunday, he finally came into his own with a sprightly spell, in which he refrained from his old failing of over-doing the googly. He accounted for Sriram, Rao and Hopes in successive overs, as Delhi went down with the setting sun in Dharamsala.

Teams in must-win battle

Match facts

Friday, May 15, Indore
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)

	Shane Watson has yet to dominate

Big Picture

Both teams are still in it theoretically, but a defeat will certainly send them out of the IPL this season. With mixed returns in this campaign overall, and at least two successive defeats marring their recent run, both Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Rajasthan Royals have been left hanging by a thread.

Rajasthan, in their previous game against the in-form Royal Challengers Bangalore, were humbled after posting 146, while Kochi will be disappointed they didn't defend 176; they were outdone by an enterprising innings from Dinesh Karthik.

Both have two games in hand, and need to win both to entertain hopes of staying. While those wins might not ensure qualification, given the teams' low net run-rates and that the current top four look good to remain there, they'll end their respective campaigns on a high. For Rajasthan, it'll mark a satisfactory end to Shane Warne's reign as player, coach and captain. Likewise for Kochi in their first season following a turbulent build-up.

Form guide (most recent first)

Kochi Tuskers Kerala: LLWWL (seventh on points table)
Rajasthan Royals: LLLWW (fifth on points table)

Team talk

It could be worth bringing Ranji star Deepak Chahar into the playing XI. He hasn't got a game this season, and could be an option in place of Pankaj Singh, who was expensive in Rajasthan's previous game.

B Akhil has had just one game for Kochi this season and could be given a go. Jayawardene has said his team could go in with a four-pronged pace attack.

In the spotlight

Shane Watson: He's had starts this season at the top of the order, but hasn't really been dominating as he's capable of being. He looked in good nick against Bangalore in his previous match, making 34, and needs to push on for more.

Brendon McCullum: He's had a better IPL than Watson, but in the last few games, like his opening rival, has not dug in after the early bursts. He made a quick 32 in Kochi's previous game, 22 before that and smashed it around for 37 against Delhi Daredevils. He and Watson have similar goals to meet.

Prime numbers

• Rajasthan Royals have had the least number of team fifties this season, with just three in 12 games. Kochi Tuskers Kerala are second from bottom with four
• Rajasthan, as a team, have also struck the least fours and sixes - 128 and 32. Kochi have fared far better - 151 fours and 43 sixes until now

The chatter

"We've often been 20-odd runs short of where we should've been. McCullum plays the way he does and sometimes gets out early. If we have some partnerships in the middle overs, we could end with 15 or 20 more runs, which could make all the difference." Mahela Jayawardene wants his batsmen to step up

Deccan prevail in low-scoring upset

Amit Mishra hit Munaf Patel for four successive boundaries in the last over

For 19 overs Deccan Chargers, out of the competition already, seemed to be going through the motions. In the 20th, they came to life through Amit Mishra's four successive boundaries off his India team-mate Munaf Patel. Mishra and his India spin rival Pragyan Ojha then bowled eight overs for 34 runs on a turning pitch, sucking the life out of Mumbai's chase. A rollercoaster final over by IPL debutant Anand Rajan made for good drama too.

Mumbai, pretty much like Deccan, woke up in the last two overs of their innings, with 42 required. Kieron Pollard and Harbhajan Singh took 16 off the 19th, and then Pollard got stuck into Rajan, who had earlier removed Sachin Tendulkar and TL Suman in the same over. Rajan was chosen to bowl that last over ahead of the overseas pro and expensively acquired Daniel Christian. Pollard hit the first length ball for a huge six. Rajan's attempt at a yorker resulted in a leg-side wide. Pollard got a thick edge on the next, and dived a mile to complete the second run. Both teams' scores after 19.2 overs were identical: 119 for 6.

Match Meter

• 
  MI
• Malinga rips Lumb's leg stump Off the second ball of the game, Lasith Malinga removes Michael Lumb to push them into defensive mode.

• 
  MI
• Mumbai stifle Deccan Deccan are as if in a choke hold, struggling to score freely, reaching 112 for 6 in 19 overs.

• MIDC
• Munaf goes for 23 Shikhar Dhawan and Amit Mishra unsettle Munaf Patel, hitting one six and five fours in the final over.

• MIDC
• Deccan come out charged Ishant Sharma and JP Duminy reduce Mumbai to 25 for 3.

• 
  DC
• Debutant snares the big one With 60 runs required off the last five, Anand Rajan gets Sachin Tendulkar and TL Suman to reduce Mumbai to 83 for 6.

• 
  DC
• Rajan holds his nerve in face of the rampaging Kieron Pollard to secure the win.

 Advantage Honours even

Pollard started doing what Mishra had, flicking a leg-side length ball for four. The debutant had to be under pressure, although an expressionless face didn't give much away. Kumar Sangakkara and Ishant Sharma, fielding at a very straight mid-on, called conferences every ball. Rajan's previous over had featured the wicket of the best batsman in the world. He was throwing it away now. Then came a smart slower ball, a split-finger one, outside off. This edge from Pollard carried to third man. Game over. Rajan didn't go delirious celebrating in true IPL fashion. He just smiled.

For a little less than the first half of the match, Deccan hadn't had much to smile about. From the moment Michael Lumb lost his leg stump to Lasith Malinga in the first over, Deccan lived a stifled life. Not one of the main batsmen, except for Shikhar Dhawan, struck at a run a ball.

Malinga and Harbhajan Singh were difficult to get away, and Dhawal Kulkarni sneaked in three wicket-taking deliveries. It seemed Mumbai had resumed normal service after their 87 all out in their previous game. Then Munaf began the last over, at 112 for 6. Dhawan hoisted the first ball for six. Munaf came back well with a yorker that brought Mishra on strike.

This is where the game started turning. Munaf bowled a bouncer, and the top edge flew over the keeper's head. Munaf had things to say to Mishra then, which didn't quite go down well with the Deccan batsmen. Dhawan too joined in the exchange. An attempted yorker now ended up as a full toss, and ended up at the midwicket fence. This time Mishra was looking for Munaf. The next was half edged, half guided past the keeper. Mishra and Munaf collided on the pitch even as the ball reached the third man boundary. Another yorker went wrong, and another full toss was clipped for four.

Deccan went into the defence with confidence. JP Duminy, who was beautifully done in by a loopy offbreak earlier in the match, bowled a beauty himself, opening the innings. That offbreak, pitching on leg, hitting off, removed Aiden Blizzard, and sent Mumbai into caution mode. Now with Mishra and Ojha turning the ball square, Deccan's 135 started to look a good total.

Ishant, too, chipped in with the wickets of Ambati Rayudu and Rohit Sharma. With wickets falling around him, Sachin Tendulkar seemed to be stuck between caution and aggression. He too tried to go after the debutant Rajan in the 16th over, with 60 still required. He punched him for four first ball, but then saw Suman perish to a slower one. To the last ball of the over, he moved across to try and pull, and was caught dead in front. Ojha and Mishra came back to give just 11 off the next two overs.

Pollard's hitting in the final two, which brought Mumbai teasingly close to a win, went on to emphasise that he should be batting higher for Mumbai, who are now out of the crucial top two on the points table.