That is another clinical win for the Kings. It was the debutant Marsh who got going tonight and made sure that there are no hiccups in this run chase. Spare a thought for the fine knock that Rohit Sharma played in the first innings. He was the lone warrior for the Chargers and single handedly took them to a total which was at least challenging. But Marsh played a stunner on debut and he was well supported by Jayawardene, who played a fine cameo. With this win, Punjab are in 4th place in the points table. We have a great match tomorrow between Chennai and Delhi, the two teams who have looked the best in this league so far.

The good old method of leading from the front still works. The IPL has shown us that only those leaders who are willing to lead from the front stand a better chance of success. Dhoni is a good example. He is someone who performs when the chips are down. Not many captains or even for that matter players do that. Shane Warne is another example. He has led from the front , by example. He has bowled, batted and fielded with zest. Viru Sehwag too can be a positive impact on his team, provided he fires consistently. The same holds true for Yuvi too. Sourav though not successful himself has managed to win consistently. Rahul Dravid has not been his usual self. Contrary to what many people think , this extremely strong willed person can come good in twenty 20s for the simple reason that he has been such an excellent finisher in ODIs. He lacks the team to do that though. Moreover he is another person who performs well in crisis situations, an area where he has scored over even Sachin in the last decade or so. It remains to be seen how Sachin comes back and performs. It is turning out to be a interesting tournament, since Sachin will now have resurrect his team from the depths it has hit. Every match for Mumbai Indians will be a crunch game from now onwards and it remains to be seen how Sachin responds.

Match No: 19
Teams: Deccan Chargers vs Kings XI Punjab
Venue Rajiv Gandhi Int. Stadium, Hyderabad
Toss Kings XI Punjab
Result: Kings XI Punjab won by 7 wickets
Man of the match: Shaun Marsh
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Match No: 18
Team: Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Venue Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Toss Rajasthan Royals (Elected to bat)
Result: Rajasthan Royals won by 45 runs
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Another emphatic victory for the Royals. They just seem to be getting better with every match. Ganguly and Hussey put on a good partnership but they couldn’t score at a brisk pace. Ganguly fell trying to up the tempo and when Trivedi cleaned up Hussey in the 18th over it was all over for the Knight Riders.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has upheld its five-year ban imposed on fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar.

Aftab Farukh, the judge heading a three-member appellate panel on Monday said, “Basically he has not tried to reform himself and has continued to violate discipline. That is the view of the tribunal so the ban stays.”

“We will not suspend five-year ban order on Shoaib.

“Shoaib has harmed the board, fans and the entire country,” he added.
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