We’ll take a lot of positives: Mahela

Kochi Tuskers Kerala put up a clinical performance to crush Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets in Indore. However, their skipper, Mahela Jayawardene addressed the post-match press conference with mixed feelings. While he was happy with the way his boys clicked as a unit to end RR’s hopes of qualifying for the Playoffs, he also rued the lack of consistency of his own team due to which they were left with less than an outside chance of going further in the tournament.

On KTK’s overall performance in their debut IPL season

I’m still disappointed [despite being sixth on the points table]. The way we started [with two back-to-back victories], we looked good to qualify in the top four and even win the tournament. That’s what our goal was. We’ve had our chances but we failed to grab them. This win shows what we can do when we click as a unit. We haven’t been consistent and there’s a lot for us to learn from this season.

On the positives the team can draw from this season

We’ve found quite a few young Indian boys who can deliver and the international guys too have put their hands up and performed. Parthiv, Jadeja, Sree, Vinay Kumar and RP Singh have been brilliant. We’ve got bench strength in Muralitharan and Thissara Perera. We have talent and we have a very good chance of coming back stronger the next year. But we need to keep working hard. It’s not going to come easy for us even in the next season.

On the team’s improved performance after losing the last game

We made some mistakes in that game with bat and ball. In T20 once you make a mistake it’s very hard to make a come back into the game. But today, we had an almost perfect game – with the ball, bat and in the field. Consistency is one area we need to work on.

On RP Singh’s performance in the tournament

RP Singh is a great prospect. He has done well for India as well. He was injured, made a strong comeback and he’s continued his good run in this tournament as well. RP and Sreesanth have spearheaded our bowling attack and it’s good to have such experienced bowlers in our team. It gives our pace attack depth and options to try out different combinations.

On his decision to field first

The other day we couldn’t defend 180. It’s a small ground with a very good batting track. So we took the route of restricting them and then chasing it down. And for that we beefed up our batting.

On whether the track for this game was different from the last one

It was pretty much the same, probably slightly slower than the first day. But it is a very good batting wicket.

On their next game in Chennai

Unfortunately I’m leaving for Sri Lanka tomorrow early in the morning. But I’ll speak to the boys tonight and give them the confidence they need. We need to finish on a high. We beat Chennai in Kochi, so we just need to focus on our strengths and execute our plans. They’re a tough team to beat but we’ve got nothing to lose. I just want the guy to go out there and enjoy their cricket.

Worst performance in 4 years: Warne

Indore, May 14: Shane Warne was absolutely distraught as Rajasthan Royals were walloped by the Kochi Tuskers Kerala at Indore. After being dismissed for 97, the Royals bowled miserably as KTK finished the game off in mere 7.2 overs. In his post-match interaction with the media, Warne was unequivocal in his admission that he was disappointed by the lack of fight shown by his team tonight.

On the reason behind the loss

I’m not sure. I’ve been the captain and coach of the Royals for four years and it’s very disappointing to put up our worst performance in this season. It was such a crunch game and we still had a chance to go further in the tournament. We all knew it was a 180-200 run wicket and we didn’t even cross 100. Our batting hasn’t fired consistently in the tournament and in T20 if the batsmen don’t score runs, it gets very hard for the bowlers.

On making six changes in the playing XI

We wanted to rest Johan Botha and Ross Taylor and give a chance to Jacob Oram, who can hit big sixes in the end and is also a fine bowler. Among domestic players we wanted to give a chance to the likes of Ankeet Chavan, Nayan Doshi and also the new wicketkeeper Pinal Shah, who was doing very well in practice. Unfortunately the guys didn’t put up a good performance.

On his four years with the Rajasthan Royals

I’ve been very lucky to be with a wonderful group of guys at the Royals. It will be sad to leave, not only the IPL but the game of cricket in itself. I have only one game to go before my 23 years of career – including first-class, international and club cricket – comes to an end. Leaving on such a note, losing our last four games so badly is even more disappointing. But all said and done, I’ll have fun memories of the IPL and of everyone I’ve played with and against here. I’m sad to leave but am looking forward to the rest of my life.

On RR’s batting collapse on the flat batting track

It was a perfect batting track and we were probably 100-110 runs short. As I said earlier, our batting has let us down right through the tournament, with the exception of perhaps Johan Botha, who did a pretty good job after being promoted up the order.

On whether RR struggle outside of their home ground

Well, that’s what you think. But I think most of the teams have done better at home than away. Yes, this year our record on the road has been very poor but in T20s you can have games like that. There’s no disgrace in losing if we’re outplayed but the way we’ve lost these last four games has been very disappointing.

On Shane Watson not opening the batting

Watson’s been opening the batting for the most of the tournament and by his own admission he hasn’t done as well as he’d have liked to. We had Rahul Dravid up front with the young Faiz Fazal, who’s a fine batsman. Fazal had the licence to go all out and even if he got out there was Watson to follow. But unfortunately in the first six overs we lost three wickets and that’s where we probably lost the game.

Chawla was top class: Gilly

Dharamsala, May 15: Adam Gilchrist was a happy man after his team won its third successive game in IPL 2011. Kings XI Punjab’s 29-run victory against Delhi Daredevils has kept the door ajar for the Punjab franchise for an entry into the Playoffs.

Gilchrist and man-of-the-match Piyush Chawla [4-0-16-3] addressed the media after the game.

Excerpts from the post-match press conference:

Adam Gilchrist

On Delhi putting up a weak fight

They were doing all they could. It’s a difficult situation. I’ve been in that situation before where it’s all over pretty early. It’s the end of a long season for a lot of their players. They were right in the hunt early on but then, obviously, chasing that total and the partnership between [Shaun] Marsh and [Paul] Valthaty is what broke their back. And then the bowling effort was superb.

On KXIP’s chances of making it to the Playoffs

Same situation as before the game. We have got to keep winning. We have two more games to go and we have to try and win. That’s all we can do. The chances don’t change much.

On having any specific plan for Chris Gayle in their next game against Royal Challengers Bangalore

He’s doing ok [laughs]. We are not going to sit here and tell the world what the plan is. But we’ll think about that. We’ll enjoy tonight because you got to acknowledge your victories. But tomorrow we’ll start planning.

On whether it will be a tough game against RCB

Every game is tough in the IPL. Two games ago we were playing the top team in the IPL and we beat them by 70 runs [Mumbai Indians]. So anything is possible. That’s what this team does know. We don’t take anything for the granted.

On whether KXIP were lucky to win the game since Delhi dropped a couple of catches and missed an easy run out

I don’t use the term ‘luck’. I think you create opportunities when you are in the field. If you are not disciplined you miss opportunities. Your own standard of fielding creates and makes those opportunities.

On Piyush Chawla’s Man-of-the-Match performance

PC was just absolutely top class. He missed a couple of games. He’s gone away and he’s come back and shown in the last few games that he is an international standard bowler. A very good one at that.

Piyush Chawla

On whether his improved bowling because of selection is coming a little late in the tournament

What is not in my hands, I cannot handle. I can go to the ground and perform. That’s the only thing I can do.

On what he is doing differently in the last few games

Well, it’s not about doing things differently. The plan was not very different from the previous games. But in this game and in the last game I bowled a little better because I had some time to think about mixing my pace.

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BCCI reserves its judgement on Warne-RCA spat

The BCCI on Tuesday reserved its judgement on an acrimonious public spat between Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne and RCA secretary Sanjay Dixit after summoning both of them for a hearing.

Both Warne and Dixit appeared before a three-member IPL panel and gave their versions of the incident regarding the change of pitch and the subsequent events which have marred this edition's Twenty20 event.

Dixit had accused Warne of abusing him for not acceding to his request to change the pitch for Rajasthan's home match against Royal Challengers Bangalore on May 11.

"We had a long meeting and judgement is awaited. We were called together and separately. Hearing was held in a cordial atmosphere. Since it was a hearing, the proceedings were confidential," Dixit said after the hearing which lasted close to three hours.

The IPL panel that conducted the hearing comprised of chairman Chirayu Amin, IPL governing council member Ravi Shastri and IMG official John.

"The hearing was only about the complaint that I had lodged. There was no extraneous element. The three-member panel heard all our points and I will wait for the judgement as I still don't know when it's going to come," Dixit said.

It is not known yet when the BCCI will give its judgement on the issue. A top BCCI official indicated that a media release will be issued later in the day but it was not clear whether it would be the judgement or merely a press note on the proceedings of the hearing.

Warne, who was accompanied by Rajasthan Royals' CEO Sean Morris, was the first to leave after the hearing. Dixit was called for deposing later on.

Warne is alleged to have publicly insulted Dixit after an IPL match in Jaipur, calling him a "liar and egoistic", forcing RR owner Shilpa Shetty to intervene and apologise for the incident.

The ugly incident took place just after the prize distribution ceremony of the match between RR and RCB at the Sawai Mansingh stadium.

IPL is premier T20 event: Hopes

Dharamsala, May 15: Delhi Daredevils’ stand-in captain James Hopes was a disappointed man after his team crashed to a 29-run defeat against Kings XI Punjab. While speaking to the media after the game, Hopes said that his team did not execute the basics well. He also said that IPL is the premier T20 competition in the world.

Excerpts from the post-match press-conference:

On the game today

Today’s game kind of summed up our season. We got off to a pretty good start with the bat, then slowed down a bit and then tried and chase down 12-an-over for 10 overs which you aren’t going to do too many times successfully. And the fielding, we could have genuinely had them 2/10 and it would have been a whole different ball game.

On Virender Sehwag being missed by the Daredevils

He’s the world’s best opening batsman. Of course, we are going to miss him. Fact is he is not here. We’ve got to go out and play. It wasn’t our batting that let us down today. If you look at the game we missed chances, we missed half-chances and that pretty much summed up our effort.

On whether Sridharan Sriram’s over, which went for 25 runs, cost DD the game

Yes, but I bowled an over before that which went for 18 as well. So that could have made a difference as well.

On the playing conditions

Fast, bouncy [and it] seamed around about a little bit. About 160-170 on that wicket was about a par score. If they keep using the same wicket and the grass goes off, it’s going to get a little bit flatter.

On the motivation for DD now that they are out of contention for the Playoffs

If you look around the world this is the premier T20 competition. So if you are not motivated to play in this tournament you probably should not be here. It’s personal pride. We play professional cricket and we want to win every game we play. Tonight was about doing the basics well. And that’s what we didn’t do and that has cost us.

Sizzling Gilchrist conquers Bangalore

20 overs Kings XI Punjab 232 for 2 (Gilchrist 106, Marsh 79*) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 121 (Chawla 4-17) by 111 runs

Adrenalin. Violence. And a lot of skill. The Dharamsala sky cracked with lightning and thunder but the real storm was witnessed from the bats of Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh. Gilchrist rolled back the years to produce a delightfully aggressive century and Marsh unfurled a gem of his own as the pair constructed the highest partnership in a Twenty20 game, 206 runs, to help Kings XI Punjab terminate Royal Challengers Bangalore's winning streak. With this massive 111-run victory, Punjab are level on points with Kolkata Knight Riders and also, racked up their net run rate.

There are many big-hitting batsmen but most of them tend to club, bludgeon, tonk, heave and thump. Gilchrist, though, rarely plays an "ugly" shot. He makes eye-pleasing classical arcs with the bat and tonight was no different. Marsh captured the mood best: "It was a privilege to watch it from the other end," Marsh said.

Gilchrist made his presence felt in the chase too, diving to his left to take a stunner to dismiss Chris Gayle and derail the chase. Ryan Harris removed both Gayle and Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar bowled his fifth maiden of the tournament, and Piyush Chawla bamboozled the lower-middle order with his googlies and legbreaks to grab four wickets but the night will be, as it should be, remembered for the carnage unleashed by Gilchrist the batsman.

He didn't start flowing until the seventh over, preferring to let Paul Valthaty play the role of aggressor. Gilchrist was on 2 off 9 deliveries, and Punjab on 30 for 1, when a short ball from Abhimanyu Mithun helped him kickstart his flashback. He swivelled to pull the white ball over the midwicket boundary to signal the beginning of the carnage. He then turned his attention to S Aravind, who had given only a solitary run from seven deliveries. He charged down the track to lift one over long-off and crashed another to the straight boundary. With Marsh collecting a six and a four, S Aravind leaked 21 runs in that eight over. The floodgates were well and truly open.

Kohli tried to the check the Gilchrist flood with the spin of Gayle. No luck, though, as he was swung for two huge sixes. It was in the 10th over, bowled by Charl Langeveldt, that Gilchrist really stepped up the violence in some style. He played the conventional and the short-arm pull to collect two sixes before he produced the longest six (122 metres) to complete the hat-trick. It was a knuckle-ball from Langeveldt but Gilchrist read it early and swung it way beyond the midwicket boundary. Langeveldt winced, Kohli stared into distance and the Punjab camp was agog with utter delight.

Bangalore's woes, though, were only to escalate from that moment as Marsh decided to weigh in with his own brand of aggression. He stamped his presence on the game in the 15th over, looting 30 runs off Johan van der Wath. It went for 6 6 4 4 4 6, as Marsh launched a stunning assault. Three fours sped to the extra-cover boundary, one six flew over midwicket, another sailed over long-off and the final six disappeared over the straight boundary.

By the end it was difficult to keep count of the sixes as the scorecard kept racing ahead as though it was on steroids. It was a violent violent night in the hill-town inhabited by peaceful monks.