Dhawan puts Punjab out of contention

Shikhar Dhawan got his highest Twenty20 score

The happy ever-after fairytale ending to the league phase campaign that Kings XI Punjab were expecting slipped through their fingers, literally, in Dharamsala. Their rise from the dead has been the story of the IPL so far, but they crumbled in the field in a must-win game to crash out of contention. It was dropped catches galore, spiced up with misfields and missed run-outs that let the Deccan Chargers openers, Shikhar Dhawan and D Ravi Teja, deliver just the kind of a partnership that would lift the spirits of a struggling team in its final game this season. While Amit Mishra did his own bit with a hat-trick, it was their stand that put the task beyond Punjab's batsmen. The defeat for the hosts meant Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders have qualified for the play-offs.

The first over set the tone for the day. There was encouragement for Praveen Kumar from the track, with the ball moving both ways, but there wasn't much the bowlers could do to pick up wickets when not backed up by their fielders. Ryan McLaren missed an attempt to run out Shikhar Dhawan first ball and Ravi Teja was dropped by Paul Valthaty in the deep off a wild heave moments later. Both chances were difficult, yet manageable, and proved decisive in the outcome.

The opening bowlers, Praveen and Ryan Harris, erred in line, particularly against Dhawan, who comfortably picked them off through square leg and fine leg for boundaries. While Dhawan looked determined to bat through, it was Ravi Teja's responsibility to maintain the high tempo that was set early. Dhawan focussed on the gaps, with timing and power enabling him to pierce them with ease, while Ravi Teja went over the top, accomplishing the task he was sent out for, albeit with much fortune.

Streaky as he was, Ravi Teja sent Punjab's frustration levels soaring. He survived a run-out in the 11th over - umpire Asad Rauf didn't call for a replay - and edged the next two balls of McLaren to the third-man boundary. He was dropped by Harris the next over, and proceeded to launch Piyush Chawla for two massive sixes in an over that yielded 20 runs. By the time he was finally caught, he had smashed 60 when he should have been dismissed for a duck.

Having fed on tripe bowled on the pads, Dhawan drove Harris twice for boundaries through the off, then ceded the floor to Ravi Teja, before taking the lead once again following his dismissal. His intentions were clear right after the second time-out, as he slog-swept Piyush Chawla and Bhargav Bhatt, and scarred Harris further in his return spell with consecutive fours, including one that almost decapitated the man at the non-striker's end, Cameron White. His first six, predictably in the slog overs, was over cow-corner but he was unfortunate to miss out on three figures, not being able to farm much of the strike from then on.

Punjab had opted for a change in strategy, opting to chase, leaving some a little surprised particularly since Adam Gilchrist had scored a blistering ton at the same venue after batting first in their previous game. The pressure of a big target, despite the friendly surface and the small boundaries, was too difficult a challenge. Paul Valthaty perished in the second over, Shaun Marsh smashed JP Duminy for successive boundaries but was caught on the third attempt, edging to short third man. Gilchrist stood in the way and there was hope when he launched Anand Rajan over extra cover and slog-swept Pragyan Ojha into the stands.

Unlike Punjab, though, Deccan caught well, and when Gilchrist drove Daniel Christian straight to Cameron White in the 11th over, the game was decided. Mishra got into the act, his first wicket, that of McLaren, a product of an excellent diving catch by Christian in the deep. Mandeep Singh swung and missed to be stumped off the next ball, and Harris edged a googly straight to second slip to complete the hat-trick. The element of suspense Punjab brought to a mostly predictable tournament was over.

How will the Punjab fairytale end?

Match facts

Saturday, May 21, Dharamsala
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)

	Through rain and shine, Shaun Marsh has been the one constant in Punjab's campaign

Big Picture

The task ahead of Kings XI Punjab is simple: beat Deccan Chargers by as big a margin as possible on Saturday. Mumbai Indians' sorry show against Rajasthan Royals has brightened Punjab's prospects, and provided them with windows of opportunity at both ends of the Net Run-Rate curve. Punjab are already ahead of Mumbai on NRR, and if they win by a big enough margin, they will leapfrog Kolkata as well, reducing the final league game into a shoot-out. If, on the other hand, Punjab win by a small margin, they will remain behind Kolkata on NRR, and will want Mumbai to either lose, or win by a margin huge enough to pull Kolkata to fifth on the table. All these permutations, however, will count for nought if Punjab lose against Deccan.

The possibilities are endless, and the situation calls for cool heads that can ignore the distractions and approach the game with uncluttered minds. In captain Adam Gilchrist and coach Michael Bevan, Punjab have just the men for the job. So far, Punjab's campaign has hurtled along like a chronic insomniac over-dosing on sleeping pills: with arguably the weakest side on paper in the competition, they have been through a three-match winning streak and a five-game losing run, followed by four successive wins. Can they hold it together for one last game?

The dark cloud in Punjab's horizon is that, if they can't pull off a big win tomorrow, Kolkata and Mumbai will know exactly what they need to do when they play their last game. The darker cloud - literally - is that a rain-out in Kolkata will knock out Punjab irrespective of Saturday's outcome. The silver lining is that the normally meek Deccan are further weakened by the absence of Kumar Sangakkara, and have little to play for at the end of a forgettable season. The hills in Dharamsala could witness an interesting duel tomorrow.

Form guide (most recent first)

Deccan Chargers: WWLLL (eighth in points table)
Kings XI Punjab: WWWWL (fifth in points table)

Team talk

Both teams are on winning streaks, and are unlikely to fiddle with their combinations. Sangakkara's absence might force Deccan to fall back on the hopelessly out-of-form Cameron White. Chris Lynn and Michael Lumb are the other likely replacements.

The more interesting variable in the lead-up to the game could be the nature of the strip at Dharamsala. The ball swung around in windy conditions in the Bangalore game, and there might be assistance from the track on Saturday. Preparing a seamer-friendly wicket can however be a dangerous move, against an attack that includes Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma.

In the spotlight

Talk of Punjab's campaign, and only the spurts of brilliance stand out - from Paul Valthaty, Adam Gilchrist and Piyush Chawla. Few will remember a single innings of note from Shaun Marsh, yet he has been the only constant in their topsy-turvy campaign. He scores a half-century once in nearly every two IPL outings, and is the only batsman who averages more than 50 across four seasons. That's staggering for anyone, but especially for a middle-order batsman, who has often batted in the shadow of Gilchrist, Yuvraj Singh, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene.

IPL 2011 has been a microcosm of Ishant Sharma's international career. He's managed to hit speeds of 150+kph, got the ball to kick and spit at the batsmen's throats from a length, and he's bowled the spell of the season. Amid those crests, he has also slipped in listless lengths, and has taken his share of tap. Which version of Ishant will turn up for the last game?

Prime numbers

• Punjab are the specialists at ending streaks for their opponents. They ended seven-match streaks for Pune and Bangalore. The former was a losing streak, the latter was a winning streak and both are IPL records. 
• Gilchrist's smash-a-thon against Bangalore has reaffirmed his spot at the top of the IPL six-hitters chart. He now has 80, seven ahead of Yusuf Pathan, and nine clear of Suresh Raina
  The chatter
  
  
  "Ok so Dharamsala is beautiful, but if the pitch plays anything like the nets did today, there could be a fatality!"
  Dale Steyn's Tweet after his first net session, on what might have been an under-prepared strip, is actually a veiled warning

Ganguly's last chance in dead rubber

Match details

Saturday, May 21, Delhi
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)

	Robin Uthappa has not lived up to his billing

Big picture

It's the first dead rubber of the IPL. Somehow, for six weeks the tournament has managed to not have a single match completely devoid of meaning. Even the eternal optimist will find it hard to squeeze an ounce of significance out of Saturday's match between Delhi Daredevils and Pune Warriors though.

There are a couple of individual players to watch. It may be the last glimpse of Sourav Ganguly as a cricketer, Robin Uthappa will be keen for one big performance to step up his bid for an India place and Varun Aaron won't mind another opportunity to showcase his pace. For most though, it's the kind of game they'll want to end as soon as possible. There hasn't been a match at the Kotla since May 2, so it's difficult to know what to expect from the pitch.

In a way, the match is almost an advertisement for a two-tier system in which the bottom two sides are relegated. As the IPL group stage peters out to a dull end, the English football premier league will see its relegation battle go down to the last day with five sides fighting for safety. An introduction of a similar system in the IPL will create interest in the tournament for the struggling teams till the end.

Form guide (most recent first)

Delhi: LLLWL (tenth in points table)
Pune: LLWWL(ninth in points table)

Team talk

Aaron Finch has gone back to Melbourne after hurting his shoulder, so won't get the chance to improve his dismal IPL numbers. Both sides may as well give opportunities to their fringe players. Colin Ingram and Andrew McDonald have not been given enough of a chance for Delhi, while 18-year-old Unmukt Chand was given two games at the start of the tournament and was then dropped.

Kamran Khan, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and Mohnish Mishra have all disappointed for Pune, but may get another chance now that nothing is at stake.

Play ESPNcricinfo Team selector.

In the spotlight

Curious Australian eyes will be on Callum Ferguson who has been starved of opportunities and runs so far. He could run into quite a few fellow Australians in the Delhi team.

After a forgettable season, it's Irfan Pathan's last chance to prove his doubters wrong. His $1.9mn auction price has been a weight around his neck, and perhaps with the campaign drawing to a close he will be able to play more freely.

Prime numbers

• Delhi have actually amassed the second-highest number of runs this IPL season; their 2031 is second to Kings XI Punjab's 2108. However, the number of runs they've given way, 2073, is far more than any other team.
• Pune's Mithun Manhas has the most ducks in IPL 2011 - four

The chatter

"We hope to make it to the semis. We have started on the next season. We are into a review process. We will bounce back strongly next year and things will change for us next season."
Delhi coach David Shipperd is already thinking a year ahead

"If you see he has taken around 17 [16] wickets in the tournament so far. We are also working on his batting and fielding; he is a bright candidate for one-dayers in the near future."
Yuvraj Singh predicts big things for legspinner Rahul Sharma

No full-time coaching role - Warne

Shane Warne thinks a short-term consultancy role would suit him better than a full-time coaching position

Shane Warne has ruled out a full-time coaching role with Rajasthan Royals in the future. Warne, who played his last IPL game for Rajasthan against Mumbai Indians on Friday said at the post-match press conference that he "definitely, 100% won't be here as a coach for the entire tournament. There's no point [being here as a coach] for seven weeks, I might as well be playing."

The 41-year old legspinner, did not however rule out a short-term consultancy role."I can see myself in a consultancy role," he said, "whether it be for 10 days pre-tournament, maybe a week in the middle and a week at the end, maybe a few days, maybe just at the end."

When Warne announced his IPL retirement earlier in the tournament, Rajasthan Royals released a statement which stated that Warne would "continue his association with the Royals in coming years". Warne, however, indicated that nothing had been decided yet. "That [the consultancy role] might be with the Rajasthan Royals … I have had four years with them so they might think its time for a new injection from someone else with some different ideas … they might still want me, I'm not sure. In the next 12 months I might be associated with somebody else.

"Obviously Rajasthan are my first priority but if I can't come to an agreement with them then I'll look elsewhere," he said.

Warne has played 55 games for Rajasthan in the IPL, picking up 57 wickets at an average for 25.38. Warne captained Rajasthan to victory in the inaugural season of the IPL but the franchise's fortunes slumped in the next two seasons. They failed to make the playoffs this season, and their last few games were overshadowed by the controversy surrounding the public spat between Warne and Rajasthan Cricket Association secretary Sanjay Dixit after the May 11 game against Royal Challengers Bangalore for which Warne was finedUS$50,000 by the BCCI.

Warne said that "no one had approached" him to play in Australia's Big Bash League and that "at this stage I am never going to play another game."

Mumbai humbled by the other Shane

Shane Watson was all over Mumbai Indians

The prospect of a final face-off between Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne had dominated the build-up to this clash, but on the field it was overshadowed by an imposing performance from Shane Watson. Not only did he deliver a fitting farewell for his captain from competitive cricket, he also left Mumbai Indians under serious pressure to keep their qualification chances alive following a third straight defeat. For someone who had struggled to capitalise on starts through this tournament, Watson compensated with a splendid all-round effort, with each of his crushing blows serving Mumbai a painful reminder of what they should have achieved on a good pitch.

The Tendulkar-Warne contest should have been a non-event as left-arm spinner Ankeet Chavan trapped Tendulkar twice in front, only for umpire Paul Reiffel to think otherwise. Backed up by his disciplined bowling at one end, Watson dismissed T Suman and Ambati Rayudu in successive overs from the other, depriving the hosts of the attacking start they would have hoped for after choosing to bat. And just as Kieron Pollard had warmed up at the death after muscling a couple of boundaries, Watson cleaned him up to restrict Mumbai to a below-par total, one that was given some respectability by a classy half-century from Rohit Sharma.

It didn't take long for Watson to set about punishing Mumbai, as he smote Harbhajan Singh for two massive sixes over midwicket in the second over of the chase. He followed that up by drilling Lasith Malinga past mid-off in an over that perhaps produced his only moment of discomfort. Malinga responded venomously, knocking back Watson's chin with a bouncer - it escaped the grill, there would have been some pain but Watson didn't flinch. His own response? A memorable counterattack, pulling Malinga each time he dropped short, his next seven balls producing three fours, a flat six and a stunned crowd not used to seeing their star-studded home team being overwhelmed in that manner.

Match Meter RR Watson strikes early: He dismisses T Suman and Ambati Rayudu in successive overs. Mumbai are 17 for 2 MIRR Rohit, Pollard step up: Rohit goes after Amit while Pollard muscles a couple of boundaries to boost Mumbai's hopes of a good score RR Warne ends on a high: Rohit is stumped off Warne in the final over, and Mumbai are restricted to a below-par 133 RR Unstoppable Watson: Harbhajan Singh is struck for two huge sixes in the second over of the chase, and Watson doesn't look back  Advantage Honours even

A sense of resignation was felt in the crowd, if not among the players, when Watson smacked Harbhajan for three consecutive fours in his comeback over, while Rahul Dravid, happy to play the supporting role, showed his own class with some delightful boundaries off Pollard and Munaf Patel. The pair remained unbeaten, Rajasthan cantered home, marking a satisfactory end after their turmoil-filled build-up to the tournament.

Rohit had won praise from Warne as one of the most exciting talents in Indian cricket, and he undoubtedly would have impressed his opposing captain with his performance today. He quickly took the lead in the stand with Tendulkar, his stand-out shot being an imposing drive against Warne through extra cover, matched by a delightful punch in the same region off Johan Botha who couldn't restrain Rohit despite chasing him as he made room.

Rohit used his feet well to spin, and stepped up in the late overs after Tendulkar perished to an upper cut off Amit Singh. Warne though, wasn't finishing his spell without a cheer. His final victory with the ball was the stumping of Rohit, stunned by the turn and losing his bat to square leg with a wild swing gone bad. At the end of the game, Warne was still smiling while Mumbai stayed baffled.

Warne v Tendulkar one last time

Match facts

Friday, May 20, Mumbai Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)

	Shane Warne's final hurrah coming up

Big Picture

Four years ago, Shane Warne's glittering international career came to an end after he helped Australia whip England 5-0 to regain the Ashes, and he contentedly signed off noting that his team owned every major trophy on offer. The finale of his IPL career has been diametrically opposite, with his inconsistent side, Rajasthan Royals, eliminated early and Warne himself has been in the news over the past week for off-field altercations rather than on-field wizardry.

There have been glimpses of the old bewitching loop and cricketing nous but that hasn't been enough to inspire his team to reach the play-offs. Rajasthan have little at stake in Friday's match against Mumbai Indians and the highlight for cricket aficionados will be the last chance to see the celebrated Warne v Tendulkar rivalry.

Mumbai have been off the boil in the past couple of matches and have lost their seemingly nailed-on spot at the top of the table, slipping down to third. There is still an outside chance that Mumbai may not make the play-offs, a possibility they will look to eliminate on Friday.

Form guide (most recent first)

Mumbai Indians LLWWW (fourth in points table)
Rajasthan Royals LLLLW (seventh in points table)

Team talk

The bowling hasn't been much of a worry for Mumbai, and it is the batting packed with headliners that has struggled over the past week. It's likely they will re-jig the order instead of making too many personnel changes.

With Rajasthan out of the tournament, it is hard to predict what strategy they will follow. In their previous game, they made an unprecedented six changes, leaving out usual starters Ross Taylor and Johan Botha.

In the spotlight

Andrew Symonds has had a poor IPL so far, and one of the reasons he remains in the XI is the lack of proven overseas alternatives in the Mumbai squad. His combination of talent and temperament is exactly the spark Mumbai need to right their recent failures.

Prime numbers

• Shane Warne has the unwanted record of most ducks in the IPL - seven
• Sachin Tendulkar has nearly a 1000 IPL runs more than any other Mumbai batsman, batting for Mumbai - a majority of Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds' IPL runs have come for Deccan Chargers
  The chatter
  
  "We didn't play well. We didn't bat well. We played way below our potential. We are quite aware of that. It's quite an important game for us and we need to win it."
  Robin Singh, the Mumbai Indians coach, sums it up

Spinners, Gambhir help Kolkata breeze past Pune

Sourav Ganguly managed just 18 against his former team

It was billed as Sourav Ganguly's payback game against Kolkata Knight Riders. Instead, it proved to be a stern examination on a turner for the Pune Warriors batsmen, and called in to question the home side's decision to play only one specialist spinner as Shakib Al Hasan, Iqbal Abdulla and Yusuf Pathan exploited the generous spin available to tie Pune down. Kolkata, anchored by Gautam Gambhir, and under no pressure with an asking rate of below six, motored to victory, taking a big step towards making the play-offs.

Unless they lose badly to Mumbai Indians in their last league game, and Kings XI Punjab manage another big win in their last match, Kolkata should be through to the knock-outs.

The comfortable victory was set up by the Kolkata spin trio, who picked up five wickets for 51 runs in 11 overs, but more than that, preyed on the minds of the Pune batsmen, who struggled to score on a pitch that would have been a good test of batsmen's skills in a Test match against quality spin, but looked out of place in a Twenty20 game.

Right from the first ball that Abdulla bowled, it was clear that the batsmen were in for a hard grind. It was flighted, drew Manish Pandey forward, and spun sharply across as he missed the ball by a long way. The third was the typical left-arm spinner's sucker ball, making Pandey push forward outside the line for the turn and going straight on to strike him in front. This was after Jesse Ryder had targeted the second ball of spin in the game, trying to smash Yusuf Pathan for six but only finding mid-off. It was the beginning of Pune's problems.

Callum Ferguson came in ahead of Ganguly, and the relative ease with which he played during his short innings made one wonder again what he had been doing in the Pune dugout for most of the season. It was the spinners' night though, and Ferguson was left clueless as he skipped out to Shakib, only for the ball to turn a long way past his bat for Shreevats Goswami to do the rest.

Match Meter KKR Pune openers fall to spinners: Manish Pandey and Jesse Ryder fall as soon as Gautam Gambhir introduces Yusuf Pathan and Iqbal Abdulla. 17 for 2 KKR Pune middle order struggles: Pune's batsmen can't find runs against spin. Shakib Al Hasan removes Callum Ferguson and Sourav Ganguly; Yusuf gets Robin Uthappa KKR Yuvraj can't get going too: Yuvraj Singh top-scores with a patient 24 but Pune manage only 118 for 7 KKR Gambhir leads the way: Gautam Gambhir, along with Yusuf and Manoj Tiwary, chugs smoothly towards the target as Kolkata win by seven wickets  Advantage Honours even

There was a time when left-arm spin from both ends would never be tried against Ganguly, but that time is long gone. Ganguly led a charmed life today, almost edging the ball on to the stumps and also escaping a stumping chance. He showed one glimpse of the batsman he once was, lofting Abdulla for a very straight six, but clearly, sustained big hitting on a difficult pitch was too much to expect. He departed on another failed attempt to break free, sweeping Shakib to Yusuf at backward square leg.

It was not until the 13th over that Pune's most explosive batsmen, Robin Uthappa and Yuvraj Singh, got together. A run-rate that had remained stuck below six after the opening over forced Uthappa to go hard at Yusuf in the next over, but he swung it to deep midwicket where Lee took a sharp catch. Yuvraj was left playing the tragic hero yet again, but even he could not do much, ultimately top-edging a pull off L Balaji, who came on to bowl for the first time in the last over.

Alfonso Thomas got Pune the breakthrough in the first over, getting Goswami caught behind with one that took off. That was as close as Pune came to entertaining hopes of an upset, and Kolkata's line-up proved to be too powerful, not even requiring the services of Jacques Kallis, who had injured his finger in the field.

Gambhir, as always, showed how to tackle a turning pitch, repeatedly using his feet against Pune's spinners, Rahul Sharma and Yuvraj. He also played two delightful extra cover drives off successive deliveries against Thomas. Yusuf wasn't far behind, making room to cut Rahul's skiddy deliveries from off stump through short third man.

That it wasn't to be Pune's day was evident when consecutive throws from Ferguson ran to the boundary, the latter after hitting the stumps. Not that it mattered in the end, as Kolkata were simply the superior side by a long margin.