I'm at a loss for words...

Predictably, KR lost again by 6 wickets to Bangalore (source). Why predictably? Because I could sense that the only team KR felt as if they had a fighting chance with, and could probably win against, in IPL 2 is Punjab. And that chance was loooooong gone.

Looking back at my previous posts, I think I have the makings of a bookie. Even without watching the game and knowing how the game works, I managed to predict that Chennai and Delhi are going to be the top two teams even while Deccan was having a good run on the playing XI at the time. It's a good thing that gambling is not allowed in my religion or I could have raked in some dirty money by now XD.

The one I didn't predict was Rajasthan, although I did think it's gonna be one of the contenders for the top four positions. But I still think it'll be Chennai and Delhi in the final. Hmmm, we'll see what happens at the semis.

Delhi Daredevils beat Bangalore Royal Challengers by 6 wickets

Source
Bangalore Royal Challengers innings (20 overs maximum)
Jacques Kallis b Nannes 0 (1 ball)
Robin Uthappa c Sangwan b Nehra 3 (8)
Kevin Pietersen b Vettori 37 (40)
Ross Taylor lbw b Mishra 31 (45)
Virat Kohli c Dilshan b Nehra 22 (46)
Mark Boucher c Mishra b Sangwan 36 (31)
B. Akhil not out 8 (6)
Vinay Kumar run out (de Villiers) 0 (1)
Pankaj Singh not out 1 (2)
Extras (lb-5, w-5, nb-1) 11
Total (for seven wickets in 20 overs) 149
Fall of wickets 1-0 (Kallis, 0.1 overs), 2-10 (Uthappa, 1.2), 3-72 (Pietersen, 9.3), 4-78 (Taylor, 10.6), 5-139 (Boucher, 18.6), 6-139 (Kohli, 19.1), 7-145 (Vinay Kumar, 19.3)
Bowling
Derek Nannes 4-0-24-1
Ashish Nehra 4-0-34-2
Pradeep Sangwan 4-0-32-1
Amit Mishra 4-0-19-1
Daniel Vettori 4-0-35-1

Delhi Daredevils innings (target: 150 runs from 20 overs)
Gautam Gambhir c Boucher b Pankaj Singh 16 (25 balls)
Virender Sehwag c Pietersen b Pankaj Singh 7 (7)
Tillakaratne Dilshan not out 67 (86)
A.B. de Villiers b Appanna 21 34 (23)
Dinesh Karthik c Kallis b Akhil 12 (13)
Mithun Manhas not out 23 (21)
Extras (w-4) 4
Total (for four wickets in 19.2 overss) 150
Fall of wickets1-11 (Sehwag, 1.4 ov), 2-42 (Gambhir, 5.4 ov), 3-84 (de Villiers, 13.1 ov), 4-106 (Karthik, 15.4 ov)
Bowling O M R W Econ
Vinay Kumar 3.2-0-28-0
Pankaj Singh 4-0-31-2
Jacques Kallis 3-0-37-0
Anil Kumble 4-0-22-0
P.Appanna 4-0-24-1
B.Akhil 1-0-8-1
Toss: Bangalore Royal Challengers chose to bat first
Points: Delhi Daredevils 2, Bangalore Royal Challengers 0
Man of the match: Tillekratane Dilshan (Delhi Daredevils)
Umpires: S. Asnani (India) and B.G. Jerling (South Africa)
TV umpire: Billy Doctrove (West Indies)
Match referee: Yashpal Sharma (India)

Kings XI Punjab won against Bangalore Royal Challengers by 7 wickets

Bangalore Royal Challengers:
Jesse Ryder b Abdulla 32 (21 balls)
Robin Uthappa c Yuvraj Singh b Pathan 0 (1)
Jacques Kallis c Jayawardene b Abdulla 62 (46)
Kevin Pietersen c Goel b Abdulla 0 (2)
Rahul Dravid c Singh b Chawla 10 (13)
Ross Taylor c Jayawardene b Abdulla 35 (22)
Virat Kohli c Bopara b Singh 2 (3)
Praveen Kumar lbw b Pathan 13 (7)
Vinay Kumar not out 1 (1)
Pankaj Singh b Pathan 0 (1)
Anil Kumble not out 5 (3)
Extras (b 4, lb 1, w 3) 8

Total (nine wickets in 20 overs) 168

Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Uthappa, 1.1 overs), 2-48 (Ryder, 5.2), 3-48 (Pietersen, 5.4), 4-73 (Dravid, 10.3), 5-134 (Kallis, 16.3), 6-142 (Kohli, 17.4), 7-159 (Taylor, 18.4), 8-162 (Kumar, 19.1), 9-162 (Pankaj Singh, 19.2)

Bowling:
Ranadeb Bose 2-0-24-0
Irfan Pathan 4-0-35-3
Yusuf Abdulla 4-0-31-4
Piyush Chawla 4-0-19-1
Yuvraj Singh 3-0-28-0
Ravi Bopara 1-0-4-0
Vikram Raj Vir Singh 2-0-22-1

Kings XI Punjab:
Ravi Bopara c Ryder b Kallis 84 (59)
Karan Goel run out (Vinay Kumar/Uthappa) 19 (19)
Kumar Sangakkara c Pankaj Singh b Kumble 26 (18)
Yuvraj Singh not out 30 (17)
Mahela Jayawardene not out 1 (1)

Extras (b 1, lb 3, w 9) 13

Total (for three wickets in 19 overs) 173

Fall of wickets: 1-52 (Goel, 6.4 overs), 2-92 (Sangakkara, 12.3), 3-158 (Bopara, 18.1)

Bowling:
Praveen Kumar 4-0-36-0
Pankaj Singh 2-0-20-0
Jacques Kallis 4-0-51-1
Vinay Kumar 1-0-4-0
Kevin Pietersen 2-0-16-0
Anil Kumble 4-0-19-1
Jesse Ryder 2-0-23-0

Toss: Bangalore Royal Challengers, who chose to bat first

Points: Kings XI Punjab 2, Bangalore Royal Challengers 0

Umpires: Billy Doctrove (West Indies) and T.H. Wijewardene (Sri Lanka)

TV umpire: Simon Taufel (Australia)

Match referee: D. Govindjee (South Africa)

Deccan Chargers crush Royal Challengers

Deccan Chargers beat Bangalore Royal Challengers by 24 runs in the eighth match of the second edition of the Indian Premier League at Newlands in Cape Town on Wednesday.

Scoreboard (source)

Deccan Chargers

Adam Gilchrist c Kohli b Pietersen 71
Herschelle Gibbs lbw b Kumar 13
V.V.S. Laxman c Steyn b Ryder 5
Rohit Sharma c Pietersen b Steyn 52
Scott Styris c Kumar b Pietersen 14
Venugopal Rao run out (Sharma/Uthappa) 9
Ravi Teja not out 8
Fidel Edwards not out 3
Extras (lb-8, w-1) 9

Total (for 6 wickets in 20 overs) 184

Fall of wickets 1-46 (Gibbs, 3.5 overs), 2-66 (Laxman, 7.1), 3-127 (Gilchrist, 13.1), 4-147 (Styris, 15.3), 5-172 (Sharma, 18.2), 6-174 (Venugopal Rao, 18.6)

Bowling

Praveen Kumar 4-0-37-1
Dale Steyn 3-0-21-1
Jacques Kallis 2-0-19-0
Anil Kumble 4-0-39-0
Jesse Ryder 3-0-29-1
Kevin Pietersen 4-0-31-2

Bangalore Royal Challengers (target: 185 runs)

Jesse Ryder b Edwards 0
Robin Uthappa c Ravi Teja b Styris 12
Jacques Kallis c Sharma b Singh 15
Kevin Pietersen st Gilchrist b Ojha 11
Rahul Dravid c Venugopal Rao b Styris 48
Virat Kohli c Gibbs b Singh 50
Rajesh Bishnoi run out (Gilchrist/Harmeet Singh) 1
Karan Sharma c Gilchrist b Styris 1
Praveen Kumar not out 14
Anil Kumble not out 1

Extras (lb 1, w 6) 7

Total (for eight wickets in 20 overs) 160

Fall of wickets 1-0 (Ryder, 0.1 overs), 2-19 (Kallis, 3.5), 3-38 (Uthappa, 7.2), 4-62 (Pietersen, 10.3), 5-115 (Dravid, 15.4), 6-123 (Bishnoi, 16.3), 7-134 (Sharma, 17.4), 8-158 (Kohli, 19.4)

Bowling

Fidel Edwards 4-0-39-1
R.P Singh 4-0-17-2
Harmeet Singh 4-0-44-0
Pragyan Ojha 4-0-27-1
Scott Styris 4-0-32-3

Toss: Deccan Chargers chose to bat first

Points: Deccan Chargers 2, Bangalore Royal Challengers 0

Player of the match: Adam Gilchrist (Deccan Chargers)

Umpires: M. Erasmus and A. Saheba (India)

TV umpire Mark Benson (England)

Match Referee: Yashpal Sharma (India)

Chennai Super Kings beat Bangalore Royal Challengers by 92 runs

Source

Port Elizabeth, April 21 (IANS) Scoreboard of the Indian Premier League match between Chennai Super Kings and Bangalore Royal Challengers at St. George's Park here Monday.
Chennai Super Kings
Parthiv Patel b Pietersen 30
Matthew Hayden run out (Dravid) 65
Suresh Raina c Kohli b Kumar 28
Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Bishnoi b Kumar 16
Andrew Flintoff not out 22
Albie Morkel b Steyn 5
Extras (lb 5, w 8) 13
Total (for five wickets in 20 overs) 179
Fall of wickets: 1-106 (Patel, 10.1 ov), 2-106 (Hayden, 10.2), 3-144 (Dhoni, 15.6), 4-165 (Raina, 18.6), 5-179 (Morkel, 19.6)
Bowling
Praveen Kumar 4-0-37-2
Dale Steyn 4-0-35-1
Jacques Kallis 2-0-28-0
Vinay Kumar 1-0-12-0
Virat Kohli 1-0-9-0
Anil Kumble 4-0-26-0
Kevin Pietersen 3-0-14-1
Ross Taylor 1-0-13-0
Bangalore Royal Challengers innings (target: 180 runs)
Praveen Kumar b Gony 0
Robin Uthappa st Dhoni b Muralitharan 20
Jacques Kallis lbw b Morkel 24
Ross Taylor c & b Flintoff 1
Kevin Pietersen lbw b Muralitharan 0
Rahul Dravid c Flintoff b Balaji 20
Virat Kohli c Badrinath b Joginder Sharma 11
Rajesh Bishnoi c Balaji b Muralitharan 0
Vinay Kumar c Hayden b Balaji 5
Dale Steyn run out (Raina/Dhoni) 0
Anil Kumble not out 1
Extras (lb 1, w 4) 5
Total (all out in 15.2 overs) 87
Fall of wickets 1-0 (Kumar, 0.3 overs), 2-40 (Kallis, 5.2), 3-47 (Taylor, 6.5), 4-49 (Pietersen, 7.3), 5-50 (Uthappa, 7.5), 6-66 (Kohli, 10.5), 7-66 (Bishnoi, 11.1), 8-74 (Vinay Kumar, 12.4), 9-78 (Steyn, 13.3), 10-87 (Dravid, 15.2)
Bowling
Manpreet Gony 3-0-24-1 (2w)
Laksmipathy Balaji 2.2-0-18-2
Albie Morkel 2-0-12-1 (1w)
Andrew Flintoff 3-0-11-1
Muttiah Muralitharan 4-1-11-3
Joginder Sharma 1-0-10-1 (1w)
Toss: Chennai Super Kings, chose to bat first
Points: Chennai Super Kings 2, Bangalore Royal Challengers 0
Man of the match: Muttiah Muralitharan (Chennai Super Kings)
Umpires: Brian Jerling and S.J.A. Taufel (Australia)
TV umpire: Russell Tiffin (Zimbabwe)
Match referee: Gundappa Viswanath (India)

This week's matches so far...

Rajasthan Royals defeated by Bangalore Royal Challengers

I'm only keeping up with the commentary in anticipation of which team KKR will face when it advances to the semi-finals (that's me being positive, not sarcastic). For those who understand what all these figures mean, I'm pasting the results of the match here (full article):

• Bangalore Royal Challengers gained a crushing 75-run win as the champions were bowled out for a paltry 58
• Indian batting star Rahul Dravid made a fine 66 as Bangalore recovered from losing two wickets for no runs in the first three balls of their innings. Bangalore made 133 for eight, which hardly seemed likely to be a total easily defended, but the Royals made a horror start and never recovered. They were bowled out for 58, with no batsman making more than 11
• Mascarenhas struck again when Robin Uthappa was caught behind to reduce the Challengers to 17 for three. But Pietersen made 32 as he and Dravid started a fightback. Dravid carried it on, batting until the last over of the innings as he made 66 off 48 balls with eight fours and a six. Mascarenhas took three for 20 and he was backed up by Munaf Patel (two for 25) and Warne, who claimed two for 18 in his four overs.

My stomach is in a knot waiting for the KKR match even though I can't watch it. I suspect it'll be online early morning Malaysian time. This is when I wish I have cable + sports channel.