Johannesburg, May 25 (IANS) Roll of Honour of the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Winners: Deccan Chargers (Rs.48 million)

Runners-up: Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rs.24 million)

Fair Play Award: Kings XI Punjab

Man of the Match (finals): Anil Kumble (Royal Challengers)

DLF Golden Player of the League: Adam Gilchirst (Deccan Chargers)

Orange Cap winner (highest scorer): Matthew Hayden (Chennai Super Kings)

Purple Cap winner (highest wicket-taker): Rudra Pratap Singh (Deccan Chargers)

Under-23 Player of the league: Rohit Sharma (Deccan Chargers)

IPL Closing Ceremony | IPL 2009 Closing Ceremony | Glitz, glamour planned for IPL closing ceremony

PRETORIA: After five weeks of exhilarating cricket, the Indian Premier League (IPL) will draw to a close in an electrifying closing ceremony at Wanderers Cricket Stadium in Johannesburg Sunday.

“The closing ceremony is going to be spectacular,” IPL media director Trevor Jones told BuaNews Friday.

In a dramatic turnaround of fortunes in the IPL, last year’s bottom-placed teams Bangalore Royal Challengers and Deccan Chargers will vie for the title in the grand finale of the second edition of the tournament.

“The IPL has been an amazing spectacle that has surprised many in South Africa and the world. To host this tournament at short notice; the results were just amazing,” he added.

The IPL cricket tournament was shifted from India to South Africa over security concerns of the players as the government had to concentrate on the parliamentary elections.

According to a detailed programme released Friday, the line-up for the closing ceremony includes performances by world renowned music legend Eddy Grant and the American super-star Akon.

Eddy Grant will perform the popular “Walking on Sunshine” and his anti-apartheid hit song “Gimme Hope Jo’anna”.

Akon, who recently met President Jacob Zuma, will perform his Grammy award songs accompanied by Shilpa Shetty, the Bollywood actress and co-owner of the IPL team the Rajasthan Royals.

Adding Bollywood glamour will be actress Katrina Kaif, who together with a troupe of Indian and South African dancers will perform the well-known “Jai Ho”, which was the theme song for the Oscar award wining movie “Slumdog Millionaire”.

President Zuma is expected to attend the IPL final match and would also address the stadium just before the game starts.

Other highlights on the night would include a programme featuring renowned percussionist Shivamani and a group of Indian and South African drummers.

Apart from the various musical programmes, the crowd would also be introduced to the Miss Bollywood IPL South Africa finalists, culminating with the crowning of the winner of the beauty competition.

About 1,500 flying lanterns will be lit and released, and a thrilling pyrotechnics show, using several thousand rounds of fireworks, will light up the Johannesburg skyline.

The glittering spectacle will end with a presentation ceremony for the winning cricket team.

Centurion, May 21 (IANS) Bangalore Royal Challengers defeated Deccan Chargers by 12 runs in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match here Thursday.
Royal Challengers thus finished at third place in the standings and will take on Chennai Super Kings in the second semifinal Saturday while fourth-placed Deccan Chargers will meet table toppers Delhi Daredevils in the first semifinal Friday.

Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 170/4 in 20 overs (Manish Pandey 114 not out, Roelof van der Merwe 23, Pragyan Ojha 2-32). Deccan Chargers 158/6 in 20 overs(Herschelle Gibbs 60; B.Akhil 2-18).

Centurion, May 18 (IANS) Kolkata Knight Riders registered their second victory in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with a seven-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings here Monday.
Brief scores: Chennai Super Kings 188/3 in 20 overs (Suresh Raina 52, Mahendra Singh Dhoni 40 not out; Ashok Dinda 1-29). Knight Riders 189/3 in 20 overs (Brendon McCullum 81, Brad Hodge 71 not out).

Johannesburg, May 17 (ANI): Kings XI Punjab skipper Yuvraj Singh’s took his second hat-trick, as his team beat Deccan Chargers by one run in a Indian Premier League (IPL) thriller here on Sunday.

Deccan Chargers skipper Adam Gilchrist won the toss and elected to field first.

Punjab lost its first wicket when opener Sunny Sohal attempted a cheeky flick shot to Rohit Sharma over short fine leg. Herschelle Gibbs and wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist then combined to run out Luke Pomersbach on 1. Just 11 runs later Simon Katich hit straight to Pragyan Ojha at mid on, off an Andrew Symonds ball full of a length, to leave Punjab on 26-3.

Captain Yuvraj Singh added 20 runs from 18 balls before being deceived by Venugopal Rao’s change of pace to be bowled. Mota’s cameo innings ended when his sweep shot failed to clean long on for Harris to take the catch diving forward.

Singh bowled to a good length at the death, taking the last wicket when Irfan Pathan failed to get hold of another fuller ball to give Gibbs a routine catch.

Kings XI wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara was the only batsman who played some good shots in his inning of 56 runs off 43 balls with four fours and a huge six.

Kings XI finally scored 134 runs for the loss of seven wickets in 20 overs.

For Deccan Chargers, R. P. Singh was most successful bowler with three wickets.

Chasing a victory target of 135, Deccan Chargers got to a good start and openers Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs scored 34 runs for the first wicket. Gilchrist scored 23 runs in 13 balls with four fours and one six.

Once, Chargers were standing tall at a score of 79 runs with seven wickets in hand, but Yuvraj Singh’s second hat-trick put Chargers in trouble.

Yuvraj dismissed Herschelle Gibbs (26), Andrew Symonds (25) and Venugopal Rao (0), spread over two overs, to bring back Punjab in hunt.

Rohit Sharma was the highest scorer with 42 runs in 26 balls with three fours and two sixes.

Yuvraj Singh was declared ‘Man of the Match’ for his brilliant hat-trick. (ANI)