Teams: Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Toss: Delhi Daredevils (Elected to bat)
Result: Rajasthan Royals Won by 105 runs
Man of the match: Shane Watson
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Rajasthan are in the finals defeating Delhi Daredevils by huge 105 runs.
Smith and Asnodkar got them off to a cracking start and then Watson and Yusuf provided the big hits towards the middle and the end of the innings. Delhi’s chase hinged on Sehwag and Gambhir but Watson’s opening spell, during which he picked up Delhi’s top three, finished the game as a contest. Warne was a treat to watch, he was turning the ball square and the batsmen had no clue how to counter him.
This was Shane Watson’s match. Imposing himself on the first semi-final, he boosted Rajasthan Royals with an electric fifty before rattling Delhi Daredevils’s top order with an outstanding opening spell. Shane Warne had complained about being deprived of home advantage but his side adjusted perfectly to the conditions at the Wankhede Stadium, putting on the show that illustrated exactly why they have been the stand-out team in the competition.

Delhi were like a side struck with stage fright. Their bowlers were rattled by a brand of unconventional strokeplay - even the peerless Glenn McGrath went wicketless for 38 runs - before their batsmen succumbed against a disciplined attack. Virender Sehwag decision to field may come under scrutiny but Rajasthan’s ruthless efficiency might have steered them to the final either way.

Match facts
Friday, May 30
Start time 20.00 (local), 14.30 (GMT)

The Big Picture
The irony of the Indian Premier League’s first semi-final is that Delhi have Rajasthan to thank for their place in the final four. Stuck on 15 points after 14 matches, Delhi needed Rajasthan to beat Mumbai in Jaipur and only after Mumbai’s final-ball choke was Delhi’s spot secured.

Ironic because Rajasthan have lost to only three teams in the IPL - Punjab, in a dead rubber; Mumbai; and Delhi, their semi-final opponents, in their first match of the tournament. Rajasthan were crushed in that encounter at the Feroz Shah Kotla by nine wickets and 29 balls to spare. They settled scores with Delhi during the home game , but that victory too looked improbable until Shane Watson blitzed 74 off 40 balls.
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1. Sohail Tanvir (Pakistan/Rajasthan Royals)

Tanvir has undoubtedly been the best bowler in the DLF Indian Premier League so far. Sohail Tanvir has picked up 21 wickets from nine games and is the League’s highest wicket taker. Needless to say, Rajasthan have found a real gem.
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Virender Sehwag finds himself in a spot of bother ahead of Delhi’s IPL semi-final against Jaipur with the Board of Control for Cricket in India rapping him on the knuckles for comments he made at a press conference soon after Delhi had qualified for the semi-finals.

Niranjan Shah, the board secretary, sent Sehwag an official communication where he made it clear the board was not impressed with Sehwag. “Dear Viru, I wish to draw your attention to your interview in print media advising on selection matters,” Shah began his letter. “You are aware that as a contracted player, you are nor supposed to talk on policy matters of the Board, particularly on selection of the team where you are one of the players eligible for selection.”
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BCCI chief Sharad Pawar shot down Lalit Modi’s grand plans to have the IPL twice a year and said the crammed ICC calendar leaves no such scope. Days after Modi, the IPL chairman and commissioner, said that from 2011 onwards, he would like to see the IPL twice a year, Pawar categorically dismissed such a possibility. “We have just got one window from the ICC per year. The calendar is ready for next seven years, so there is no scope,” Pawar told a TV channel.

Incidentally, star batsman and Delhi captain Virender Sehwag too is against having two IPLs a year.
Source:PTI

The final set of Indian Premier League matches being held in the city over the weekend are unlikely to be affected by rains, meteorological department officials said on Thursday.

“Weather conditions are so far favourable for the onset of monsoons over Kerala during the next two to three days and therefore is unlikely that it will affect Mumbai during this weekend,” C V V Bhadram, deputy director general of the India Meteorological Department in Mumbai said.
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Many eyebrows were raised and heads shaken when it first emerged how much the Indian Premier League franchisees were shelling out. Would they be able to recover their huge investments, asked skeptics. Well, it looks like the franchisees will be having the last laugh - all the way to the bank.

The whopping success of IPL has not only ensured that teams like Jaipur, Kolkata and Mohali are likely to break even in the first year itself, but also transformed the fortunes of its telecaster Sony Set Max, says a report prepared by the equity research division of Alchemy Shares and Stock Brokers. The biggest gainer, though, is arguably BCCI - which is projected to rake in a profit of Rs 350 crore from IPL in the first year itself. This would be more than BCCI’s profit of Rs 235 crore for all of 2007. In all, IPL will bring revenue of Rs 1,200 crore a year into cricket, more than double the government’s entire sports budget of Rs 490 crore.
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KARACHI: Pakistan’s star all rounder Shahid Khan Afridi returned home from India on Thursday morning after playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Afridi represented Deccan Chargers in the eight-team competition where his team failed to qualify for the semi-finals. Talking to Daily Times here, Afridi said he was disappointed with his batting performance in the IPL. “This version of cricket suits my aggressive style of batting. But I took pressure in the league. I wanted to give my best in this shorter version but unfortunately I failed.” Afridi lamented that his non-performance with the bat was one of the reasons for Deccan Chargers languishing at the bottom of the table.
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CHENNAI: History is balanced, with both sides reigning at home. But the past will only cease to be past when the two sides vie for final at the Wankhede.

As it had been the theme of this campaign, whichever side performs well on its day will have the final say. Here is a quick overview.

Crucial contests

Delhi openers Vs Sohail Tanvir: It would be an arduous task for the Rajasthan bowlers if either Virender Sehwag or Gautam Gambir gets going.
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