Lasith Malinga, Saurabh Tiwary star in thrilling Mumbai win

Mumbai Indians 164 for 6 (Dhawan 50, Tiwary 31) beat Kings XI Punjab 163 (Marsh 57, Malinga 4-22) by four wickets

A dry slow pitch and the early fall of Sachin Tendulkar, on whom Mumbai Indians tend to depend far too much, combined to produce a thrilling game that concluded in the last over at the Brabourne Stadium. Set a target of 164 after Lasith Malinga had restricted Kings XI Punjab with a four-for, Mumbai stumbled at various points of the chase but found enough vital contributions to clinch the game with three balls to spare. Shikhar Dhawan laid the platform with a half-century, Saurabh Tiwary lifted Mumbai with a breezy 31 just when it seemed they might lose their way, and R Sathish produced the final flourish to push them past the line and take them a step closer towards a semi-final berth .

Mumbai needed 19 from the final two overs but Sathish produced two skillful hits to the ropes - an inside-out shot over covers and a whip-lash square drive - off Ravi Bopara, and Saurabh Tiwary thrashed a straight boundary to leave themselves six to get of the final over. Sathish held his nerves to collect couple of driven two's and Brett Lee fired a wide down the leg side, as Punjab slipped to their sixth defeat in the tournament.

It wasn't quite a quality game, but it made for interesting viewing. Despite a composed fifty from Dhawan, Mumbai dawdled in the chase to reach a situation where they needed 57 from 33 balls. It was at this point that the game started to turn in their favour. Tiwary slog-swept Piyush Chawla for a six and Ambati Rayudu pulled the same bowler to the wide long-on boundary to reduce the equation to 46 from 30 balls. However, Bopara, who bowled medium pace not dissimilar to Chris Harris, slipped in a few tight overs in the company of the equally impressive Shalabh Srivastava.

And when Bopara picked up the vital wicket of Dwayne Bravo with a slower one and Srivastava bowled a few dot balls, the equation read 27 from 15 balls. It was a make or a break moment, and Tiwary forced Mumbai ahead with a fierce flat-batted six over long-off off Srivastava; Sathish settled the issue in the next over with his strikes against Bopara.

David Warner hundred hands Delhi huge win

Delhi Daredevils 177 for 4 (Warner 107*, Collingwood 53) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 137 for 9 (Yadav 2-27, McDonald 2-37) by 40 runs

Wickets fell in each of the first three overs of Delhi Daredevils innings, but David Warner batted on some other island to score the second century of this year's IPL, his first in Twenty20s. On a track that assisted spinners, Delhi bowled smartly to never be threatened in the defence, winning comfortably and moving back to the top four.

Neither did the Kolkata Knight Riders attack elicit respect from Warner, nor did the situation result in apprehension: he just cleared the front leg and hit his way to 107 off 69. The support required amid early wickets came from half-centurion Paul Collingwood, whose innings came straight out of the Paul Collingwood school of batting - practically without a back lift. Out of their 128-run stand in 16.2 overs, Warner scored 74 off 54.

David Hussey, bowling so round-arm he looked like Lasith Malinga bowling off a two-step run-up, and Murali Kartik were Kolkata's best bowlers, going for just 50 in their eight overs. They lost Angelo Mathews, who had conceded 11 in two overs, when he had his upper lip opened up while pulling off a diving save at the long-on boundary. The other 10 overs, though, featured a lot of loose bowling, and duly went for 116 runs.

On a slow, turning pitch, Warner's technique was simple: clear the front leg, don't commit to any shot, and decide based on what kind of delivery it is. Throughout his innings, right from his first boundary slashed over point in the second over to his last six hit over long-off in the last over, he displayed this wonderful ability to hit to any part of the field from the same position. Between those two shots, he hit eight other fours and four other sixes. Anything full headed towards cow corner and midwicket, width had wide mid-off and point peppered. He also got a few generous long hops on the pads.

Harbhajan sizzles in Mumbai win

Mumbai Indians 172 for 7 (Harbhajan 49*, Tendulkar 55) beat Deccan Chargers131 (Sharma 45, Malinga 3-12, Zaheer 3-21, Harbhajan 3-31) by 41 runs

They say a Twenty20 match can be won in ten minutes of violent batting or inspired bowling. Harbhajan Singh needed only 18 balls when he batted, and just one delivery when he bowled, to win the game for Mumbai Indians. Double-strikes from RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha had reduced Mumbai to 119 for 7, but Harbhajan played a wickedly-entertaining cameo to charge his team to 172. He wasn't done yet and opened the bowling to remove Adam Gilchrist with his second delivery, dealing the most crippling blow to the Deccan Chargers chase.

The game changed in a Mumbai minute at the DY Patil Stadium. When Harbhajan entered in the 17th over Mumbai had lost the plot after a good start, but he led a stunning turnaround with an 18-ball 49. He hit a six and a four off Andrew Symonds in the 18th over but it was in the next, bowled by Kemar Roach, who until then had looked impressive, that he went berserk. Harbhajan started with a slapped four over extra cover before swinging merrily to the on side, including a shovelled six over square-leg, to plunder 19 runs. In the final over bowled by two bowlers - Jaskaran Singh was no-balled out of the innings after hurling two beamers and Rohit Sharma finished the over- Harbhajan crashed four boundaries, this time concentrating on the straight boundary.

Rajasthan clinch fourth straight win

Rajasthan Royals 177 for 8 (Ojha 80, Jakati 2-30, Thushara 2-28) beat Chennai Super Kings 160 for 6 (Vijay 42, Tait 2-22) by 17 runs

Naman Ojha's bat, Yusuf Pathan's right arm and some steady nerves from the fast bowlers proved enough to flummox Chennai Super Kings and lead Rajasthan Royals to their fourth win in a row. Ojha's first half-century of the season, and best score in the IPL, propelled Rajasthan to a formidable total before a miserly spells from Yusuf, who also effected a direct-hit run-out and held two catches, Shaun Tait and Siddharth Trivedi choked Chennai as the "home" side surged to a 17-run victory in Ahmedabad.

In Yusuf and Michael Lumb, Rajasthan possess some awesome firepower, but the pair fizzled in hot conditions on an ideal batting pitch. Lumb, who scored crucial 40s in the last two games, fleetingly cut loose while Pathan followed his audacious 34-ball 73 in the last game with a single-digit score. Thus it was left to Ojha to shore up the innings. For the first four overs he was a spectator as Lumb led the charge, playing a series of shots in his 16-ball 30. At 47 for 1 after four overs, Rajasthan were off to a flier. At this stage Ojha was on 14. He was keen to play from his crease and more comfortable against medium-pace than spin, though each of his five sixes came against the slower bowlers, two against Muttiah Muralitharan. Ojha played superb shots off the back foot into the arc between cover-point and short third man that were hit with tremendous bat speed and put pressure on the boundary riders.

After the strategic time-out, Faiz Fazal fell, trying to launch Shadab Jakati's left-arm spin into orbit; that brought Yusuf to the crease with Rajasthan set up at 100 for 2 after 11 overs. The last time he walked out at this venue, Pathan clubbed eight sixes in an audacious innings. Today he batted six deliveries for eight runs, with just one four, before he got a leading edge off Jakati to cover.

Ojha, after crossing fifty, relied on two areas for the majority of his runs: that same arc square of the pitch when the seamers were on, and down toward long-on, when the spinners were in operation. Ojha struggled to hit the quicker bowlers down the ground or past cover and, trying to manipulate Thilan Thushara, he got a leading edge on an ugly paddle that short fine leg gobbled up.

Kolkata secure much-needed victory

Kolkata Knight Riders 183 for 5 (Tiwary 75*, Ganguly 50) beat Kings XI Punjab144 for 6 (Sangakkara 30) by 39 runs

Sourav Ganguly hit a composed half-century and Manoj Tiwary exploded after a slow start to boost Kolkata Knight Riders to 183, a total beyond the reach of a listless Kings XI Punjab. It was a mediocre game, especially from Punjab, who were so painfully slow that they fell out of the reckoning very early in the chase.

It made for strange viewing that no one took ownership of the chase as the game kept slipping away from Punjab. Yuvraj Singh and Manvinder Bisla hit a few boundaries early on in the piece but both fell to Ajit Agarkar - Manoj Tiwary held on to a splendid running catch at deep midwicket to remove Yuvraj - and the chase started to derail. What baffled was the approach of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, who allowed the pressure to mount. They didn't go for any big shots and left themselves with too much to do in the end. With the run-rate mounting at an exponential rate, both fell while going for high-risk shots: Jayawardene moved outside off stump and couldn't connect with the paddle shot, and Sangakkara was stumped as he lost balance while going for a reverse slog. Game over.

The victory, though, was set up by Kolkata's batting, led by Ganguly and Tiwary. It was an interesting innings: just when the visitors were letting things slip, they would attack. Their batting graph resembled a sine curve: Kolkata attacked at the top before they suddenly lost steam and meandered for a while, but they picked up the momentum after the first time-out. They slowed down once again towards the end but Tiwary looted 21 runs in the final over, bowled by Irfan Pathan, to regain lost ground.

Bowlers set up Rajasthan's hat-trick of wins

Rajasthan Royals 151 for 2 (Yusuf 73*, Lumb 45) beat Deccan Chargers 148 for 9 (Rohit 49, Tait 3-22) by eight wickets

Shane Warne did not set the IPL alight in his first five matches this season, but he was terrific tonight in Ahmedabad. His captaincy was innovative as always and he bowled his best spell of the tournament, choking the run flow, dismissing a dangerous-looking Herschelle Gibbs, and helping Rajasthan Royals restrict Deccan Chargers' formidable batting line-up to a below-par total. Warne's charges responded to his leadership, with the ball and in the field, and the result was a clinical performance that set up Rajasthan's third win in a row.

Rajasthan's batting has blown hot and cold this season - scoring 200-plus in Mumbai and only 92 in Bangalore - but their performances gained consistency in the last two contests. Michael Lumb anchored another convincing display, leading the chase with a brisk 45, setting the platform for Yusuf Pathan to destroy Deccan's slim chances. Yusuf swung his bat powerfully, reached 50 off 23 balls, and sent a total of eight balls sailing over the boundary. The required-rate dipped below six in the ninth over, and Rajasthan eventually cruised past 148 with 26 balls to spare. The win catapulted Rajasthan from sixth to third in the points table.

Warne had promised surprises in the lead-up to this contest, but that he always does. After some confusion over who won the toss - Deccan had, and chose to bat - he unveiled his first. Adam Gilchrist thrives against speed while facing the new ball, and is perhaps familiar with the modus operandi of Shaun Tait, so Warne slowed it down by deploying little-known Sumit Narwal, who replaced Munaf Patel in this match.

Narwal got the ball to move away from Gilchrist, the IPL's most prolific six-hitter, and after two tight deliveries, induced a mis-hit that was held by Yusuf at mid-off. Deccan were 2 for 1 at the end of the first over.

Kedar Jadhav helps Delhi end losing streak

Delhi 183 for 4 (Jadhav 50*, Warner 33) beat Bangalore 166 for 9 ( Pandey 39, Kohli 38*) by 17 runs

David Warner exploded at the top and Kedar Jadhav provided a fiery finish to charge Delhi Daredevils to a strong 183, which they defended with relative ease. It was Delhi's first win after three losses and also marked Royal Challengers Bangalore's first loss at home.

The pitch was drier than the previous tracks at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and Bangalore had to do much of the damage against the new ball if they were to hunt down the strong total. However, Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey were kept relatively quiet by tight spells from Dirk Nannes and Umesh Yadav. Nannes hit the deck hard and moved the ball enough to upset batsmen's timing and Yadav, the fastest Indian bowler currently going around in the circuit, with speeds consistently ticking over 140 kmph, surprised the batsmen with his line, length and bounce. And it wasn't all brawn from the youngster; he kept it relatively full to Kallis but hurled a few short deliveries at Pandey to keep him on a leash.

Bangalore's second opportunity to break free came in the eight over with the introduction of Andrew McDonald and Amit Mishra. It was the make or break moment, with Bangalore needing 129 from 13 overs, but Mishra slipped in fine spell to turn the game decisively in Delhi's favour. Mishra removed Kallis with a googly and induced Robin Uthappa to edge the reverse-sweep to inflict a double-strike from which Bangalore couldn't' recover. McDonald went for 18 runs in his first seven deliveries - Uthappa producing the shot of the day with a nonchalantly-hit six over the straight boundary - but bounced back in his second over by taking out Pandey, and when Rahul Dravid ran himself out in the same over the chase had derailed.

There was just one other moment of thrilling drama and it was provided by AB de Villiers, who jumped back at long-on to take an amazing one-handed catch, even as the ball appeared to have passed him, to get rid of Praveen Kumar.