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If you'd looked at the schedule before the IPL, and been told that of the two teams facing each other for the first match of April 27th, one had won 3 games on the trot while the other had only 1 win off four games, you'd have assumed Chennai had won 3, while Hyderabad had won 1. But such is the nature of T20, the headlines were the same, but with the teams reversed. Chennai needed to win this match to keep its title hopes alive, while Hyderabad didn't want to break its winning momentum.

Adam Gilchrist won the toss and inserted Chennai on a fresh pitch that looked likely to help the bowlers early on, before easing out. Fidel Edwards got his mandatory wicket in the first over, when he had Parthiv caught behind off the second ball of the match.

However, Hayden was in a murderous mood, and he treated purple cap holder RP Singh with scant respect. The fall of Raina after a good cameo, didn't deter Hayden. But as he's done everytime for Hyderabad, Pragyan Ojha put a stopper in Chennai's plans, with two big wickets in one over - those of Dhoni and Hayden, both not getting hold of the ball and getting caught. In what is becoming a worrying situation for Chennai, Albie Morkel came, hit one, and went. chennai need him to perform better than he has done so far in the tournament, because the Albie that has turned out for Chennai is a far cry from the one who terrorised the Australians a few short months ago.

For today though, Jacob Oram was the man for Chennai, and it was due to his lusty hitting at the end, that Chennai reached a total of 165 for 6.

It seemed to be competitive during the mid-innings break.

Someone forgot to tell that to Herschelle Gibbs and Adam Gilchrist though. In a display of batsmanship not yet seen in the IPL so far, they raced to 60 off just 4 overs, reaching the fastest 50 of the IPL in the process. Dhoni was forced to bring on Murali inside the power play, and he bowled the first sane over of the innings when he conceded 'just' 6 runs.

In desperation, Dhoni turned to part-timer Raina for the last over of the powerplay, but the gamble worked, when he got Gilchrist to cut one straight into gully's hands. Gilchrist departed for 44 off 19 balls. With his wicket, the scoring rate slowed down from a manic 15 runs per over to saner proportions, and Raina struck again when he had Laxman caught in a similar manner to Gilchrist.

Rohit Sharma and Gibbs then kept Hyderabad on course with a useful partnership of 39, but just when Hyderabad looked to be in control, Rohit fell, but with 42 needed off 38 balls, it was still very much Hyderabad's game. Chennai pulled things back though, especially through Murali's last over, where he gave just 2 runs and got the wicket of Dwayne Smith, until it came down to 8 needed off the final over. Gibbs then settled the issue with a six off the first ball that Balaji bowled, and with a single and a four off the next two, Hyderabad were home, sitting firmly at the top of the charts with 4 wins out of 4 matches.

Man of the Match: Hercshelle Gibbs for his superb innings of 69 not out off 56 balls, which anchored the chase. He started off matching Gilchrist stroke for stroke, but then settled down to a more sedate pace, ensuring that one end was held up, and finished off the chase in style.

Turning Point of the Match: Gilchrist and Gibbs onlslaught in the initial overs of the chase. The start ensured that the batsmen coming in would have it much easier, and importantly allowed them to see out Murali's overs safely without needing to take any risks against him.

Soundbytes: "It's not about getting close, it's about winning" - MS Dhoni couldn't have summed up his team's plight better. 3 losses - 3 close games, and the pre-tournament favourites suddenly face a struggle to qualify for the semi-finals.

"Oh I'm not revealing that!" - Adam Gilchrist, on being asked what his theory was for not bowling Pragyan Ojha at the death.

Two pairs of left-handers played key roles as Kings XI Punjab steamrolled Rajasthan Royals in Cape Town. Punjab struggled after early losses and it was left to Kumar Sangakkara to weigh in with his first half-century of the tournament and the star of the day, Irfan Pathan, to provide the momentum for a fightback. Then, defending a total of 139, Punjab were indebted to double-wicket overs from Irfan and Yusuf Abdulla at the start.

Both left-arm seamers did a sterling job under the Newlands lights, mixing their line and length impressively to check a shaky batting line-up. Rajasthan, who had set themselves a realistic chance of victory in the field fell 27 runs short.

Rajasthan's chase of 140 wasn't a tall order, but their fate was sealed by a rampant left-arm seam attack who snaffled four wickets in the first five overs. Having contributed with the bat, Irfan grabbed two wickets in his opening over. He drew a top edge from Swapnil Asnodkar with a short ball and produced a thin edge off Graeme Smith's bat with a fuller, away-swinging delivery. Rajasthan were 9 for 2.

Yuvraj Singh had opened the bowling with Ramesh Powar but Irfan's success encouraged him to go for an all-pace attack. Abdulla's first over was tidy, costing just six, and his second was disastrous for Rajasthan. Rob Quiney got a faint tickle on one down the leg side and a leaden-footed Dimitri Mascarenhas heard the death rattle second ball when he played around an offcutter.

That left Rajasthan 27 for 4, anxiously needing a partnership and Yusuf Pathan - Man of the Match in their last game - to fire. Yusuf began by picking his brother for a couple fours only to perish sweeping in Piyush Chawa's first over. Another bowling change had worked and Punjab were all over Rajasthan.

Chawla tossed it up and was rewarded with another wicket. The asking-rate kept increasing and it proved too much for Ravindra Jadeja (37) and Shane Warne, who scampered smart singles but couldn't find the boundaries during their 60-run association. Abdulla came back with Rajasthan needing 38 from two overs and cleaned up Jadeja first ball. Irfan gave just six in the last over to cap a great game. That Rajasthan didn't manage one six told a story.

Irfan's two early wickets were crucial defending a small total but that could have been smaller without his contribution with the bat when Punjab were four down for not much. Karan Goel was run out first ball - the second time in the day a wicket had fallen in that manner - before Kamran Khan and Munaf Patel struck. Warne's decision to use each of his pace bowlers in one-over bursts worked wonderfully. There were no consecutive overs for any bowler from the Wynberg end and each time Kamran and Munaf came back they struck first ball.

Kamran removed Ravi Bopara courtesy an athletic dive from Munaf at mid-on and Munaf rcame back to dismiss Yuvraj with one that swung way. Punjab slipped to 48 for 4 when Mahela Jayawardene scooped Munaf to a sliding Kamran at mid-off.

It was Irfan who provided much-needed ammunition. He wasn't always assured against spin, but backing himself to swing freely through the on side he helped Punjab rebuild. Warne and Yusuf were hit for a six each by Irfan, the quicker deliveries were smartly worked square on the off side, and a handy partnership of 75 in 59 balls had begun. Irfan kept up the momentum with some sweetly-timed strokes on the off side, the best of the lot being a cut off Warne when he came back on.

Sangakkara's 60 held the innings together. So often a calm, controlled batsman, he combined his usual elegance with a range of aggressive shots; cutting deftly, pulling powerfully and even launching Warne into a raucous crowd. Mascarenhas found just a hint of swing but too often served up four-balls; Sangakkara took him for three cracking boundaries. A powerful partnership had set up a final flourish but Rajasthan dismissed Irfan and Sangakkara in the 19th over to set themselves a gettable target.

But in the end there was no denying Punjab, piloted to victory by the all-round heroics of Irfan, their brightest star.

For a while it looked like Delhi Daredevils' batsmen had been a tad complacent while chasing a modest target, which Bangalore Royal Challengers' bowlers defended tenaciously, but an unbeaten half-century from Tillakaratne Dilshan completed their third consecutive win in the tournament. The six-wicket victory took Delhi level with Deccan Chargers on top of the points table, with six each.

The only highlight for Bangalore, who suffered their fourth consecutive defeat, was the performance of their weak bowling attack, who kept them in the game longer than most people expected. Their top-order batsmen, despite changes to personnel and order, disappointed once again. Their overseas players failed to fire, and their fielding went to pieces just when they had a sniff at pulling off an upset win.

Delhi lost their openers, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, early and Dilshan and AB de Villiers went about chasing the target of 150 calmly. They hardly attempted expansive shots, preferring instead to play the ball into gaps and run swiftly between the wickets. The spinners, Anil Kumble and KP Appanna, bowled a tight line and length and conceded few boundaries. As a result Delhi had scored only 64 for 2 after 10 overs but the equation - 86 runs off the last 10 - was manageable.

Dilshan was perhaps lucky to survive a run-out appeal soon after the tactical time-out. He was short of his crease when Ross Taylor's throw hit the stumps, but the third umpire was not convinced that Boucher had not broken the stumps with his glove before the ball found its target. de Villiers, however, fell soon after, bowled by a delivery from Appanna that turned past the bat from outside leg to hit leg stump. Dinesh Karthik started brightly, clouting a four and a six, but fell soon after, caught by Jacques Kallis at deep cover, and left Delhi at 106 for 4.

At this point Bangalore had 43 runs to defend in the last four overs. That was when they needed to raise their game but their fielding let them down during the 17th over, which was bowled by Kallis. Dilshan took a single after smashing the third ball out of St George's Park, and Mithun Manhas lofted the next towards long-on. Robin Uthappa, who's having a nightmare of a tournament with the bat, misjudged the catch: he came in too far only for the ball to fly over his head for four. Manhas pulled the next ball to deep midwicket where Appanna mis-fielded to allow another boundary. Delhi scored 19 runs off the over, needed only 24 off the last three, which they managed with ease.

Delhi's batsmen have been their strength so far in the tournament, but today their bowlers laid the platform for victory by restricting Bangalore to 149. They were challenged by Pietersen and Taylor during an aggressive partnership, but the two spinners, Daniel Vettori and Amit Mishra, struck on either side of the strategic time-out to throw Bangalore off course.

Delhi's dominance began with the first ball of the match. Dirk Nannes produced a perfectly pitched delivery which angled across Kallis, who had replaced Jesse Ryder as opener. Kallis thought the ball could be left and shouldered arms, only to hear it clip the top of off stump. It was the fifth time in five matches that a Bangalore opener had been dismissed for a duck.

Uthappa had scored 32 runs in four innings at a strike-rate of 71 before today, but Bangalore have almost no option but to play him. His innings ended on 3 when he top-edged a pull off the front foot against Ashish Nehra, when he should have been playing back.

Pietersen had said at the toss that he "had to do something today". He and Taylor made slow starts, but stepped up a gear against Nehra in the fourth over. Bangalore were 45 for 2 after the Powerplay at which point Virender Sehwag introduced spinners from both ends. Mishra was able to tie the batsmen down, but Vettori wasn't. Taylor cut him deftly for four, and Pietersen charged and hit him over long-on to take 13 runs off his compatriot's first over. In his second, Pietersen swept powerfully to the boundary but a moment's rashness cost him his wicket the very next delivery. Pietersen attempted to switch-hit Vettori's quicker ball through midwicket, but missed and was bowled, falling for 37 in the last over before the tactical time-out.

Mishra dealt Bangalore a crippling blow in the first over after the break, trapping Taylor leg before with a googly. Bangalore were struggling at 78 for 4, but managed to reach 149 largely due to Boucher's blows over the leg-side boundary in the penultimate over.