IPL Day 6: Royal Feast

What a day of cricket it was. If the first match between CSK and Delhi was a humdinger, the second match between RR and KKR was an absolute edge of the seat thriller. This is by far the best day in IPL 2009 so far. A.B played the near perfect T20 innings with some help from butter fingers of CSK and Dilshan played a typically spunky innings to set a huge target for CSK. But what went a little unnoticed in the whole carnage is that L.Balaji returned with figures of 3 for 19 in 4 overs when the innings run-rate for Delhi was 9.45!

After a characteristically aggressive start by Hayden and Raina, CSK were looking all set to overhaul the target but Delhi bowlers pulled the momentum back beautifully by picking up crucial wickets at the death. But I still expected Albie to pull it off but it wasn’t to be. I wonder why Badri is wasted at 7 in every match – Only Dhoni knows why!

The second match had it all. There could not have been a better advertisement for T20 and IPL in particular. After the fall of 2 quick wickets, Yousuf Pathan did what he does best – attack without a second thought. He did that fairly successfully till Mendis was brought onto the attack. With Mendis picking both Graeme Smith and Yousuf Pathan quickly it looked like RR wouldn’t have enough on the board to defend. But the blitzkrieg in the final over by Raut changed it all.

When KKR batted, Warned opted for the most unusual pair to share the new ball – Yousuf Pathan and Mascrenhas! It was a gamble which paid off reasonably well with the wicket of McCullum and a sedate run rate. But Gayle at the other end was threatening to take the match away from RR by striking a few towering sixes. But as ever, Warne struck the crucial blow by sucking Gayle into a false shot. And with Hodge and Shukla falling soon, in came Dada with a determination that was last seen in his comeback in SA after the Greg Chappell forced exile. And just as he did in SA then, played a blinder to get KKR’s innings back on track along with Yashpal Singh.

The crucial point came with Warne’s obsessive idea of bowling short to Ganguly. And when Munaf obliged his captain and also overstepped, Dada played a pre-determined pull for a six and then hit a typically Dada inside out shot over covers for another six in the free hit. With 13 runs off one ball, the required run rate was brought down to more manageable levels. Sourav’s constant chatting with Yashpal asking him not to do anything silly with the match virtually in the bag showed how badly he wanted to win it for KKR. But when Warne tossed one high and wide, Yashpal did exactly what Sourav asked him to refrain from doing!

With one over left and seven runs needed, my money was still on KKR. In an inspired piece of captaincy, Warne threw the ball to the 18 year old Kamran Khan to bowl the last over in such a high pressure situation. And what a super over it turned out to be, followed by another super over – this time literally!

I am so glad that the obscene “bowl-out” has been done away with and replaced by the super over.