John Pennington and Chetan Narula discuss the latest stages of the Indian Premier League 2013 - IPL 2013 - IPL 6 with the tournament rapidly coming towards its conclusion and teams battling it out for a play-off place.
Sunrisers Hyderabad kept pace with the competition for the Indian Premier League 2013 play-offs by beating Kings XI Punjab by 30 runs in Mohali.
They now have won eight matches and have 16 points, along with Royal Challengers Bangalore, and are just two behind Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals.
Chennai Super Kings got back to winning ways by puncturing Sunrisers Hyderabad's proud unbeaten run at home during the Indian Premier League 2013, convincingly running out 77-run victors.
In a clash between arguably the tournament's most powerful batting line-up and the competition's best bowling attack, Chennai, led by Suresh Raina's 99 not out, emerged well ahead.
Four weeks into the 2013 Indian Premier League and the knock-outs' picture is beginning to take shape. If you compare it with 2012, it isn't a close run thing.
At this stage last season, there were seven teams vying for four spots. A year later, things have evolved a little bit more, with only five teams in the fray now and a sixth with an outside chance.
Sunrisers Hyderabad kept their unbeaten run at home alive, defeating Delhi Daredevils by six wickets in a one-sided game at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
This win kept their hopes of a knock-outs spot alive, as they now stand third with 14 points from 11 matches. This loss ends Delhi's season, in that they are out of the knock-outs race, with only six points from 11 games.
Shikhar Dhawan drove Sunrisers Hyderabad to a fourth consecutive Indian Premier League 2013 home win as they saw off Mumbai Indians by seven wickets with two overs to spare.
Dhawan was unbeaten on 73 in 55 balls as Sunrisers eased past Mumbai's score of 129 for seven to lift themselves up to 12 points - only behind today's opponents on net run-rate.
In a contest between the two suprise packages in the top four of the Indian Premier League 2013 points table, Rajasthan Royals beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets at Jaipur.
This result means that both of them are now on 10 points each, although Rajasthan have one game in hand and are up to third spot just ahead of Hyderabad.
A wonderful unbeaten half-century from captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni drove Chennai Super Kings to a five-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad that extended their winning streak to four in a row.
Sunrisers, the tournament's biggest surprise package, pushed the two-time champions hard but were finally beaten when Dhoni smashed 14 runs in three balls to see his side past their score of 159 for six with two balls remaining.
Ideally this headline should read as 'Royal Challengers Bangalore Lay Down The Marker', having taken an early lead in the Indian Premier League 2013. Despite Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals pushing towards the top, Virat Kohli's side has stayed at the top consistently. Chetan Narula rounds up the latest IPL 2013 action as we approach the halfway stage.
Sunrisers Hyderabad moved back to the top of the Indian Premier League 2013 table as Thisara Perera blasted three sixes in the 19th over to secure a five-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab.
Kings XI were making a spirited defence of their score of 127 for five but their hopes evaporated as Perera ruthlessly punished a series of length balls bowled by Azhar Mahmood to win the game with seven balls to spare.
Amit Mishra took his third Indian Premier League hat-trick to bowl Sunrisers Hyderabad to an 11-run win over Pune Warriors as they successfully defended a score of 119 for eight.
Mishra finished with figures of four for 12, dismissing Buvneshwar Kumar, Rahul Sharma and Ashok Dinda to bowl the home side out for 108 after they lost their last six wickets for just seven runs.
In their latest series of Indian Premier League 2013 podcasts, John Pennington and Chetan Narula discuss a number of topics, ranging from Delhi Daredevils' struggles to the form of Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.
Two weekends in the 2013 Indian Premier League have come and gone, almost as a wind. The cricket on show has been enticing, at times a little slow and at other times the supposed entertainment took over.
The one assured aspect that came out on top though, and will continue to do so, is the ebb and flow of different teams as fortunes will change daily. Chetan Narula runs the rule over the start of the 2013 tournament.
Kolkata Knight Riders overcame their reversal in form to register a 48-run win against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Eden Gardens in Kolkata in game 17 of the Indian Premier League 2013.
It was the visitors’ first loss in three games as they are stand in third place in the points table, with six points from five matches. Kolkata are on four points from as many matches.
Even the return of Virender Sehwag couldn't inspire Delhi Daredevils as they slumped to a fourth straight Indian Premier League defeat, beaten by three wickets at the Feroz Shah Kotla by Sunrisers Hyderabad.
In a low-scoring game that neither side was able to dominate at any stage, Delhi were limited to 114 for eight but were only finally beaten in the final over when Dale Steyn hammered Irfan Pathan for four.
Cricket World TV looks back at the opening week of the Indian Premier League 2013 - IPL 2013 - IPL 6 in India, which at the time of recording saw four times level on two points at the top of the table.
Virat Kohli blasted a new career-best of 93 not out to drive Royal Challengers Bangalore to a convincing seven-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in front of their home crowd.
Sunrisers, through Cameron White and Thisara Perera, had reached a good total of 161 for six but with Kohli in sparkling form, Bangalore got home with 14 balls to spare.
After seven matches of the 2013 Indian Premier League, John Pennington and Chetan Narula discuss the start of the tournament, which has seen outsiders Sunrisers Hyderabad hit the top of the table.
Dale Steyn didn't allow Chris Gayle to score 21 runs in the Super Over as Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. The hosts, thus, move to the top of the table with full points from two straight wins, while Bangalore suffered their first loss of the new IPL season.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad made a winning start to their Indian Premier League career with a 22-run win over Pune Warriors in a low-scoring match in front of their home fans.
Batting first, the Sunrisers made what appeared to be a very modest score of 126 for six before dismissing Pune for just 104 in reply.
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL) will combine for the sixth successive year to ensure that the 2013 IPL tournament is played in the right spirit.
The sixth edition of the IPL starts today, when 2012 winners, Kolkata Knight Riders, host Delhi Daredevils at Eden Gardens.
A number of Indian Premier League 2013 matches have been rescheduled to avoid clashes with assembly elections in Karnataka.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka players are set to be given the go-ahead to play in the tournament but will not feature in any matches in Chennai.
Australians Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson and James Faulkner were among the big winners as the auction for IPL 2013 took place in Chennai. Maxwell fetched the biggest amount of the day when he was sold for $1 million (five times his base price) to Mumbai Indians. Faulkner and Richardson also fetched more than expected, with the former selling for $400,000 to Rajasthan Royals and Richardson going to Pune Warriors for an incredible $700,000.
The auction for the sixth season of the Indian Premier League will be held on 3rd February in Chennai, according to reports and social media posts.
IPL Chief Executive Officer Sundar Raman tweeted the following: "Pepsi IPL auction will be held on 3rd Feb in Chennai starting 11am IST."
