Delhi boys party at home

Delhi's street-wise batsmen scrapped their way to 191, a total that put pressure on Bangalore's top order and just when they needed to hold their nerve, they faltered, giving Glenn McGrath three wickets in his first spell and leaving the middle-order with too much to do. Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis could not sustain an assault and Bangalore fell short by 10 runs, registering yet another loss. Delhi, however, now go into their big game against the unbeaten Chennai team, with a triumph behind them.

Frenetic farewell
Ross Taylor leaves the IPL shortly and he would have liked to go on a high. He scored quickly, got his team off to a brisk start, and, on the verge of seeing off McGrath, miscued a catch to Shikhar Dhawan at midwicket. McGrath, who had already sent Praveen Kumar packing, then tempted Wasim Jaffer into pulling from outside off, the ball merely ballooning to mid-on. McGrath's first spell read 3-0-23-3 and he had done his bit.
The pigeon returns
On the wrong side of 30 and battling to lift their team to a much-needed win, Dravid and Kallis managed a rousing 87-run partnership with barely a shot played in anger. But it would not be enough.
McGrath returned for a final over and had Dravid (38), becoming the first bowler to pick up four wickets in an IPL match, ending with 4 for 29. Kallis (54) blustered on, meaty shoulders opening up towards the death but when he played around an arm ball from Daniel Vettori with two overs to spare and 30 still needed, the game was up.
Classic Gambhir
If at all there is something that can be termed a classic in this nascent form of the game it is the manner in which Gautam Gambhir bats. With no interest in aesthetics and little regard for accepted batting norms, he carves the ball in the arc spanning third-man to long-off with aggressive regularity.
On the day it was not a sustained assault, and that was understandable with wickets falling more often than the Kotla faithful liked. Rather, Gambhir's 86 lasted only 10 balls less than the course of the entire Delhi innings and 12 of the 54 balls he faced crossed the ropes, one without bouncing first.
Making them count
The innings' fourth over bowled by Zaheer went for 18, with Sehwag launching a six over midwicket, flicking one off the pads for four and brutally hitting the third into the first floor of the stands at long-on.
The other big over was the 14th, when Sunil Joshi's loopy deliveries landed perfectly for Dhawan (50) and Gambhir to clatter 19, via a pull over midwicket, a loft over long-on and a scorching cover-drive. Those two overs made the difference between a merely healthy total and one that would give their bowlers the breathing room they needed in the face of an inevitable counter-attack.

Sledging a waste of time, but also an art: Dhoni

We will be squaring off against a very good Delhi team on Friday. The Daredevils have very good bowlers in the form of Mohammed Asif and Glenn McGrath. It will be important for us to get off to a good start. We have to make sure that this duo does not make any inroads into our batting when we bat. Even when we bowl, it will be crucial to get as many dot balls going as possible. Virender Sehwag is in great form and it will be crucial for us to start off well with the ball as well.
One of the reasons why the Indians run foul with authorities is because there is very little sledging in first-class cricket in India.The Harbhajan-Sreesanth issue has been dealt with, and the former has been banned for 11 games. All players at this level know the limits they have to stay within, and once they go beyond these limits, they will be fined. Harbhajan Singh is a matchwinner and he must know that there is no greater high than playing well for one's team. However, if he gets on the wrong side of the law, he will not be able to do that. One of the reasons why the Indians run foul with authorities is because there is very little sledging in first-class cricket in India. It's when these youngsters get into the international level that they see and hear what the other teams are saying and some of them try it, but without the expertise of their foreign counterparts. I have said this in the past: sledging is an art, and our players must learn it well before practicing it. Otherwise bans and fines will always be handed out to them.
I personally find sledging a waste of time. I would rather preserve energy and try to get the opposition out by concentrating on doing my job well. I focus on the game, getting my plans right and then executing them well, so sledging is not for me at all. However, there are a few guys in the team who are pretty good at the chit-chat and I don't stop them if they don't go beyond the limits.
If somebody is getting under your skin, there is a way to give it back. I am all for aggression and not taking anything lying down from the opposition. It is important to give as good as you get, but it's even more important to know how to do it. Coming back to the Super Kings, I am proud of the way we came back from the edge to pull off a victory against the Royal Challengers. The Bangalore bowlers were able to swing the ball right till the 18th over. However, 180 was a good score, and while we were falling behind in the middle, we finished well to win the game.
Interestingly, we were unable to swing the ball at the start of the Bangalore innings. However, at around the 14th over, we realised that we had not been shining the ball. It was a schoolboy error, but we were lucky to detect it in time! After that, we got Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher in quick succession, and that turned the tide for us.