The Rajasthan Royals decimated an out of form Pune Warriors side by 7 wickets with more than 3 overs to spare, condemning them to their 6th consecutive defeat in the Indian Premier League this season. The Pune Warriors failed to take advantage of what Sourav Ganguly at the toss called a "good pitch", posting just 125/6 in their 20 overs. All their batsmen got starts with each of the top 7 getting into double figures but only one man getting past his teens. That honour went to Anustup Majumdar who top scored with 30, with the Rajasthan bowlers dominating the first innings with some high quality wicket-to-wicket bowling. Shaun Tait was the pick of them, finishing his 4 overs with 3 wickets for 13, and one couldn't help but wonder if the Royals had called up the Aussie quick far too late in this season's IPL. The target was never really going to challenge the Royals, who raced home on the back of a powerful unbeaten 90 from the incredible Shane Watson. The win takes the Royals back into the top four in the IPL table and gives them a chance of staking a claim for a play-off berth.

Two former roommates, each of whom captained India, collide in what promises to be an absorbing contest at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune as Sourav Ganguly's Warriors entertain Rahul Dravid's Rajasthan Royals. While the Warriors' chances of making the knock-out rounds have evaporated following 5 consecutive defeats, Rajasthan's hopes were reignited at the weekend as they ended their 4 match losing run with a vital win against the Kings XI Punjab on a quick pitch in Mohali.

Darren Bravo felt it was unfortunate that there was so little play in the West Indies' tour opener against Sussex, which ended in a no-result on Monday. The West Indies left-hander was just getting into the thick of things, when the unstable weather that has dogged the visitors since their arrival brought an early close on the final day of the three-day match at the PROBIZ County Ground.

Bravo was 19 not out, as West Indies reached 90 for three in their first innings after 16 overs were possible before bad light and rain combined to chase the players off the field for the final time.

The Kolkata Knight Riders claimed top spot in the Indian Premier League table for a few days at the very least, as they downed heavy favourites Delhi Daredevils on their own turf by 6 wickets in a rather one-sided contest. They match failed to live up to the hype with the fall of Delhi skipper Virender Sehwag for 23 the catalyst for Kolkata restricting their hosts to an ordinary 153/9 in 20 overs. Sunil Narine was virtually unplayable once again, and finished with 2-23, while Man of the Match Jacques Kallis produced yet another efficient all round display, picking up a couple of big top order wickets, while only conceding 20 runs from his 4 overs. Brendon McCullum (56) made his first half-century of the season, and shared in vital stands with Gautam Gambhir (36) and Kallis (30) to steer his side to a comfortable win. Delhi though have played a game less than Kolkata and can regain top spot if they beat the Deccan Chargers in their next outing.

Two teams that have won their last 4 games in a row to occupy the top two spots in the Indian Premier League table collide this evening at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi. The Delhi Daredevils will be anxious to keep their excellent start to the season going in the absence of Kevin Pietersen, who has left for home to begin his preparation for the Test series against the West Indies. Australian left-hander David Warner came in for Englishman, and was expected to open the batting with Virender Sehwag, pushing Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene to no.3. A fit again Varun Aaron was thrust into the starting eleven too as teenage spinner Pawan Negi, despite his heroics in the last game, was benched for this contest.

AB de Villiers showed off both his destructive capabilities and cricketing intelligence as the Proteas limited overs captain saw the Royal Challengers Bangalore home in a must win game against the Deccan Chargers at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday night. Chasing a massive 182 to win, Tillakaratne Dilshan had given the Royal Challengers an excellent platform with a typically beligerent innings of 71 (54), however, with 39 runs needed from the last 3 overs with just the tailenders for company, De Villiers came into a class of his own, playing each of the next 10 deliveries and scoring 38 runs off them to take his team within sniffing distance of victory in an incredible innings worth 47 which included 3 sixes and 5 boundaries. Earlier in the day, the Deccan Chargers seemed to have done enough with the bat, posting an excellent 181/2 courtesy some excellent innings at the top of the order from Shikhar Dhawan (73), Daniel Harris (47) and Cameron White (45).

Two teams at the wrong end of the Indian Premier League table collided on Sunday evening in desperate need of two points to reignite their respective campaigns. The flip of the coin went the way of the hosts and the Royal Challengers backed themselves chasing, inviting the Deccan Chargers to make first use of the pitch. RCB followed the Rajasthan Royals' example from yesterday, making changes en masse to their side with skipper Daniel Vettori and Andrew McDonald the international stars to miss out with the Sri Lankan duo of Tillakaratne Dilshan and Muttiah Muralitharan getting a game in their place. An illness to Sourabh Tiwary saw the India hopeful miss out, while million dollar man Vinay Kumar made way for young Abhimanyu Mithun.

An incredible game of cricket at the Wankhede Stadium went down to the wire as the Mumbai Indians were rescued at the death by the incredible power hitting of late replacement Dwayne Smith as he smashed 14 runs on the last 3 balls of the match to steer his side to an unlikely win. The match ebbed and flowed radically with the Chennai Super Kings batting first and posting a useful 173 runs on the board courtesy useful contributions from most of their top order. Mumbai came back strongly to pick up 5 wickets for 15 runs on the last 13 deliveries to keep the target within manageable proportions. A 126-run partnership between Sachin Tendulkar (74) and Rohit Sharma (60) put Mumbai well on the course to victory before they too collapsed near the end, losing 7 wickets for 25 runs before a magical unbeaten 24 from 9-balls from Smith saw them home on the last ball. The win edges Mumbai ever closer to a play-off spot, while leaving Chennai's hopes of defending their title in a world of trouble.

The Chennai Super Kings, in desperate need for some points, take on the Mumbai Indians in what promises to be a mouth watering contest between two sides packed with match winners. The flip of the coin went the way of the home side, and they raised a few eyebrows by opting to bowl first. Skipper MS Dhoni shared at the toss that both he and Suresh Raina were carrying niggles, but were still in the playing eleven. Chennai named an unchanged squad, while Mumbai made a couple of changes to their side, opting to bring in a seamer in RP Singh for Pragyan Ojha, while giving new signing Dwayne Smith a game as well in place of a rather unfortunate Thisara Perera.

The Rajasthan Royals ended their 4 matches losing run in style today in Mohali, routing the Kings XI Punjab by 43 runs in a rare one-sided contest in this season's IPL. The result leaves both teams locked at 10 points from 11 games, giving them a very slim chance of making the knockout rounds of the competition. Batting first, the Rajasthan Royals posted a very competitive 177/6 on an excellent cricket wicket in Mohali which had something in it for both the batsmen and the quick bowlers. Skipper Rahul Dravid led the way for his side with an excellent 46, while 30s from Shane Watson, Brad Hodge and Ashok Menaria helped boost the score. The Kings XI Punjab were never really in the hunt, failing to make the most of the powerplay overs, and falling well behind the asking rate right from the start. Two wickets a piece for the international trio of Shaun Tait, Shane Watson and Johan Botha helped to accelerate Kings XI's demise in a disappointing contest.

The Rajasthan Royals won the toss and opted to make first use of the pitch. While the hosts made just the one change replacing Paras Dogra with Gurkeerat Singh, Rajasthan changed things dramatically with Shaun Tait, Johan Botha, Sidharth Trivedi, Dishant Yagnik and Stuart Binny all getting a game in a completely refurbished line-up. Owais Shah and Brad Hogg were the notable international absentees.