With a hectic time at office, it’s been hard to find time to catch up with all the matches last week. The IPL with its jam packed schedule is not only testing the endurance of players but the fans too! I wonder how exhausted all of us will be, come the T-20 world cup!
It’s been a week of fluctuating fortunes with literally every team except Delhi and KKR standing unsure of their future course in the tournament till Saturday. The Delhi juggernaut continued to roll on with the odd hiccup against Kings’ XI and KKR have improved from losing badly to coming close but still not able to close out a match. CSK has stamped their authority back in the tournament with 5 consecutive victories but put themselves in a vulnerable position going into the match against Mumbai Indians by losing to B’lore in the earlier match.
In the meanwhile Mumbai have continued their “one step forward, one and half steps back" campaign in this IPL. But at the end of Saturday’s games, 2 semi-final spots seem to have been finalized and with Mumbai losing the do or die battle against CSK, 2 teams are surely eliminated. And amazingly B’lore is still in with a chance. Its gonna be fun to see Deccan, Rajasthan, B’lore and Kings’ XI fight it out for the remaining 2 semi-final spots.
It’s been a bizarre week. Deccan lost a match which it had in its bag against Mumbai. Mumbai did the same against Rajasthan Royals! And just what should KKR do to win a game? They did everything right against B’lore till Ross Taylor came out and played an absolute blinder to get B’lore out of jail and he did a repeat act (a less thrilling one though) against Mumbai too to keep B’lore’s hopes afloat.
But nothing was quite as bizarre as the match between Deccan and KKR. With 21 runs required off the last over, all the camera focus was on the KKR dug out – finally they were about to pull of a win. And then McCullum commits a blunder which would be remembered for long – has only 3 fielders inside the circle for the first ball off the last over and Rohit doesn’t make his life any better by belting it for a boundary. Amazingly Mccullum seemed to be suggesting to the umpire that it should have been called a dead ball!
With 16 runs required off 6 balls, Deccan would have fancied their chances especially with the classy Rohit Sharma on strike. Just as luck would have it, Mortaza bowled a full toss which Rohit deposited on top of a stand some 115 meters away. This was the decisive blow which sucked any little life left out of KKR. Then Rohit played a lovely cover drive for four and an audacious pull for a six when all that was required was a single to finish off the match. I have said it many times before and wouldn’t mind saying that again – he is simply the best young batsman in the country right now. Can’t wait for him to get a test berth!
Whoever makes it to the semi-finals, I would love to see a Delhi-Chennai final!
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
IPL Day 22: Of grit and graceful grit
In the match between the last year’s finalists, the competition started even before the first ball was bowled with Warnie hurling a bouncer at Dhoni by calling Chennai poor chasers at the toss. Not the one to duck ungainly at the bouncer, Dhoni added more spice by saying that Rajasthan Royals will be under pressure to put up a big total against CSK’s strong batting line up.
After yet another first over dismissal from Albie Morkel, CSK built on the pressure to ensure that Rajasthan Royals didn’t get away to a great start. After a patient 3o from Graeme Smith, some lusty hitting from Ravinder Jadeja in the middle and a cameo from Shane Warne ensured that RR put a decent enough total to make a match of it.
With Hayden continuing his rich vein of form, it looked like CSK will cruise through easily despite the loss of Vijay and Raina by the 6th over. Then came Warnie and bowled a mesmerizing over to Badri which would have given the CSK dug out a few uncomfortable moments. Having watched it from the other end, Hayden took it upon himself to take the attack to his ex-teammate and how well he did it. First he reverse swept Warnie for a four, but what followed was pure genius. In a pitch which was stopping a bit after pitching, turning square, against the ever so wily Warnie, Haydos walks down the pitch with the calmness of a monk and whacks it over long on for a six. And amidst all this not a thought of failure!
Having survived the Warne scare, Badri grew in confidence at the other end and scored 18 runs off an over from Shane Harwood. First he moved inside the line to lift the ball over fine leg for a six, then steered a boundary wide off point, helped himself for a boundary on the on side when the bowler erred in line and finished off with a cheeky little upper cut over the keeper’s head. The match was almost settled in that over. But Warnie came back and got Hayden stumped down the leg side to give RR some hope. But Badri ensured that CSK romped home without any more damage. It was a fine display of gritty batting from Badri after being made to look clueless against Warne and he admitted just as much in the post match conference too!
But the match wasn’t over yet. Just like how it started before the first ball was bowled, it ended after the last ball was bowled. Shane Warne comes out to the post match conference and says they were 20 runs short and Dhoni claims they gave away 20 runs too many!
In the first match of the day, Deccan were off to a flier only to lose their way mid way through but Symonds on his comeback match resurrected the slide beautifully. He handed out a special treatment to Sreesanth especially and with Venugopal Rao playing a nice little cameo, Deccan put up a competitive 168 on the board.
Kings’ XI got off to rollicking start with Sohal displaying his weird brand of cricket - moving away from the stumps almost all the time and trying to clear the off-side field. He did it astonishingly well and when the bowler chased him, dispatched the ball over fine leg for a six too. Just when Kings’ XI looked like running away with the match, Gilly brought on his man with the golden arm – Rohit Sharma. And Rohit struck in his over not once but twice, dismissing both Sohal and Katich in the same over. In came Yuvraj and Sangakkara and cruised along at a fair clip until a moment of brain freeze resulted in Sanga paddle sweeping Shoaib Maqsusi onto his stumps. Immediately after, Yuvraj too seemed to have gotten a brain freeze when he played an ungainly pull of a ball which stopped a bit after pitching to give a skier to Gilly. Going into the Strategy break, Gilly should have backed themselves to win.
But Mahela had other ideas. With 82 required from 10 overs, asked Irfan to refrain from doing anything silly and motored along at a fair clip for the next few overs. He lost Irfan along the way and was involved in a run out soon after but that didn’t seem to deter him too much though. Just when the run rate seemed to be climbing to more than comfortable levels, Mahela upped the tempo by tonking Suman over mid-wicket for a six and then came down the next ball and thwarted it over long-on for another six and continued the assault into Ojha's next over too by hitting him to square leg for another four. A couple of balls later, a slight indecision and cramps resulted in his run-out. But Brett Lee and Piyush Chawla ensured that Mahela’s dismissal wasn’t regretted.
The beauty of Mahela’s innings was that under so much pressure, he summoned all his grit but didn’t look ungainly for one moment through the innings.
After yet another first over dismissal from Albie Morkel, CSK built on the pressure to ensure that Rajasthan Royals didn’t get away to a great start. After a patient 3o from Graeme Smith, some lusty hitting from Ravinder Jadeja in the middle and a cameo from Shane Warne ensured that RR put a decent enough total to make a match of it.
With Hayden continuing his rich vein of form, it looked like CSK will cruise through easily despite the loss of Vijay and Raina by the 6th over. Then came Warnie and bowled a mesmerizing over to Badri which would have given the CSK dug out a few uncomfortable moments. Having watched it from the other end, Hayden took it upon himself to take the attack to his ex-teammate and how well he did it. First he reverse swept Warnie for a four, but what followed was pure genius. In a pitch which was stopping a bit after pitching, turning square, against the ever so wily Warnie, Haydos walks down the pitch with the calmness of a monk and whacks it over long on for a six. And amidst all this not a thought of failure!
Having survived the Warne scare, Badri grew in confidence at the other end and scored 18 runs off an over from Shane Harwood. First he moved inside the line to lift the ball over fine leg for a six, then steered a boundary wide off point, helped himself for a boundary on the on side when the bowler erred in line and finished off with a cheeky little upper cut over the keeper’s head. The match was almost settled in that over. But Warnie came back and got Hayden stumped down the leg side to give RR some hope. But Badri ensured that CSK romped home without any more damage. It was a fine display of gritty batting from Badri after being made to look clueless against Warne and he admitted just as much in the post match conference too!
But the match wasn’t over yet. Just like how it started before the first ball was bowled, it ended after the last ball was bowled. Shane Warne comes out to the post match conference and says they were 20 runs short and Dhoni claims they gave away 20 runs too many!
In the first match of the day, Deccan were off to a flier only to lose their way mid way through but Symonds on his comeback match resurrected the slide beautifully. He handed out a special treatment to Sreesanth especially and with Venugopal Rao playing a nice little cameo, Deccan put up a competitive 168 on the board.
Kings’ XI got off to rollicking start with Sohal displaying his weird brand of cricket - moving away from the stumps almost all the time and trying to clear the off-side field. He did it astonishingly well and when the bowler chased him, dispatched the ball over fine leg for a six too. Just when Kings’ XI looked like running away with the match, Gilly brought on his man with the golden arm – Rohit Sharma. And Rohit struck in his over not once but twice, dismissing both Sohal and Katich in the same over. In came Yuvraj and Sangakkara and cruised along at a fair clip until a moment of brain freeze resulted in Sanga paddle sweeping Shoaib Maqsusi onto his stumps. Immediately after, Yuvraj too seemed to have gotten a brain freeze when he played an ungainly pull of a ball which stopped a bit after pitching to give a skier to Gilly. Going into the Strategy break, Gilly should have backed themselves to win.
But Mahela had other ideas. With 82 required from 10 overs, asked Irfan to refrain from doing anything silly and motored along at a fair clip for the next few overs. He lost Irfan along the way and was involved in a run out soon after but that didn’t seem to deter him too much though. Just when the run rate seemed to be climbing to more than comfortable levels, Mahela upped the tempo by tonking Suman over mid-wicket for a six and then came down the next ball and thwarted it over long-on for another six and continued the assault into Ojha's next over too by hitting him to square leg for another four. A couple of balls later, a slight indecision and cramps resulted in his run-out. But Brett Lee and Piyush Chawla ensured that Mahela’s dismissal wasn’t regretted.
The beauty of Mahela’s innings was that under so much pressure, he summoned all his grit but didn’t look ungainly for one moment through the innings.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
IPL Day 21: Dominant Delhi
After a good start to the tournament, Mumbai Indians have lost their steam in the business stages of the tournament. As a desperate measure to change their fortunes, tinkered with what is arguably their biggest strength – Sachin and Sanath opening the innings. With Sanath not playing, Sachin brought himself down the order promoting Ronchi and Duminy to open the innings. With both openers not disturbing the scorers Mumbai were on the back foot straightaway and except for Bravo no one really made an impact. The writing was on the wall once Mumbai put up such a mediocre score against a strong Delhi batting line up.
But Mumbai still made a match of it with some very tight bowling from Dhaval Kulkarni and JP Duminy too. Just as they were pushing the match to the edge and with spinners doing well, Sachin took a gamble of bowling himself for an over and went away for 19 runs. It was all over then. AB has been making fast strides to move from just being a good batsman to a great batsman since the beginning of this season in Australia and his fine display in IPL so far is further proof of that. Since the beginning Delhi has looked the best team in the competition and after 35 matches, they are still the team to beat.
But Mumbai still made a match of it with some very tight bowling from Dhaval Kulkarni and JP Duminy too. Just as they were pushing the match to the edge and with spinners doing well, Sachin took a gamble of bowling himself for an over and went away for 19 runs. It was all over then. AB has been making fast strides to move from just being a good batsman to a great batsman since the beginning of this season in Australia and his fine display in IPL so far is further proof of that. Since the beginning Delhi has looked the best team in the competition and after 35 matches, they are still the team to beat.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
IPL Day 20: Mouthwatering stuff
Just what motivates a man of 37 years, retired from all forms of the game except IPL and has achieved almost everything that young cricketers would dream of. What else does he have to prove and to who? These are questions of mere mortals, to men like Haydos, they simply do what they are meant to do – compete hard, bloody hard. In this kind of a form, it doesn’t look like he’s gonna handover the orange cap to anyone almost through the length of the tournament.
The greatest pleasure of watching Hayden over the years has been his arrogant style of walking down the pitch against bowlers of all kind and depositing that red cherry over the stands. I can never forget one shot that he played against Shoaib Akhtar in Morroco in a one-day international. When most batsmen instinctively tend to go back against the pace of Shoaib Akhtar, this man walks down almost a quarter of the track and hits Shoaib’s thunderbolt out of the ground and doesn’t even bother to look up the ball and rather checks the edge of his bat! Its almost like spitting at the bowler – oh… this is what you’ve got – is it?
Today Haydos was in that kind of a mood, dancing down against the spinners and thwarting them out of the ground and that one-handed six of Sreesanth was probably the shot of the day (till I changed my opinion on seeing Mahela’s six against Murali). As if that’s not enough headache for Yuvraj Singh, Dhoni joined in the party too. That one over against VRV Singh, Dhoni flat batted a square cut for a six over point, then hit a home run and followed that up with a forehand smash to mid-wicket. Rain or no rain, CSK gave themselves the best chance of winning by posting a mammoth total.
King’s XI started off rather badly with Sohal gifting his wicket away.That didn’t deter Katich much though; he was in a mood to make a match of it and he was smashing the CSK bowlers - both spinners and fast bowlers, all around the park. Just when he was starting to look dangerous, played a horrendous shot to gift his wicket to a loosener from Balaji. Yuvraj at the other end was in his elements from the beginning smashing Murali for a huge six and when he tried to replicate that again, Goni generously continued Chennai’s catch dropping tradition in this IPL!Yuvraj rubbed salt into CSK's wounds by hitting the biggest six of IPL soon after. And with an in-form Mahela for company, the chase was certainly on.
If Hayden at his belligerent best scored at a strike rate of 153, Mahela bettered that in his own silky grace style. He started off by reverse sweeping his country man for a boundary and that inside out six over cover against Murali was straight out of heaven, but equally effective were his exploits against Balaji especially that flat pull for a six. Yuvraj and Mahela put together a 50 run partnership in next to no time and just when CSK were looking like losing control of the match, Dhoni brought in Suresh Raina out of nowhere to bowl the 15th and 17th overs and he did exactly what his captain wanted him to do – choked up the runs. And Balaji bowled an icy cool final over to close out the match.
BTW there was one match earlier in the day right? I guess Rajasthan Royals won against a not so Royal Challengers!
The greatest pleasure of watching Hayden over the years has been his arrogant style of walking down the pitch against bowlers of all kind and depositing that red cherry over the stands. I can never forget one shot that he played against Shoaib Akhtar in Morroco in a one-day international. When most batsmen instinctively tend to go back against the pace of Shoaib Akhtar, this man walks down almost a quarter of the track and hits Shoaib’s thunderbolt out of the ground and doesn’t even bother to look up the ball and rather checks the edge of his bat! Its almost like spitting at the bowler – oh… this is what you’ve got – is it?
Today Haydos was in that kind of a mood, dancing down against the spinners and thwarting them out of the ground and that one-handed six of Sreesanth was probably the shot of the day (till I changed my opinion on seeing Mahela’s six against Murali). As if that’s not enough headache for Yuvraj Singh, Dhoni joined in the party too. That one over against VRV Singh, Dhoni flat batted a square cut for a six over point, then hit a home run and followed that up with a forehand smash to mid-wicket. Rain or no rain, CSK gave themselves the best chance of winning by posting a mammoth total.
King’s XI started off rather badly with Sohal gifting his wicket away.That didn’t deter Katich much though; he was in a mood to make a match of it and he was smashing the CSK bowlers - both spinners and fast bowlers, all around the park. Just when he was starting to look dangerous, played a horrendous shot to gift his wicket to a loosener from Balaji. Yuvraj at the other end was in his elements from the beginning smashing Murali for a huge six and when he tried to replicate that again, Goni generously continued Chennai’s catch dropping tradition in this IPL!Yuvraj rubbed salt into CSK's wounds by hitting the biggest six of IPL soon after. And with an in-form Mahela for company, the chase was certainly on.
If Hayden at his belligerent best scored at a strike rate of 153, Mahela bettered that in his own silky grace style. He started off by reverse sweeping his country man for a boundary and that inside out six over cover against Murali was straight out of heaven, but equally effective were his exploits against Balaji especially that flat pull for a six. Yuvraj and Mahela put together a 50 run partnership in next to no time and just when CSK were looking like losing control of the match, Dhoni brought in Suresh Raina out of nowhere to bowl the 15th and 17th overs and he did exactly what his captain wanted him to do – choked up the runs. And Balaji bowled an icy cool final over to close out the match.
BTW there was one match earlier in the day right? I guess Rajasthan Royals won against a not so Royal Challengers!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
IPL Day 19: Rohit Sharma steals the show
Deccan looked every bit like the team which had lost 3 matches on the trot. They didn’t look like winning it till Mumbai pressed the panic button. Gibbs consumed nearly an over to get out without scoring and Gilly couldn’t set the world on fire either. A sensible innings from the classy Rohit Sharma and a useful cameo from Venugopal rao helped Deccan post 145 on the board.
R.P.Singh has had no inhibitions in expressing his love for the SA wickets both on the field and off it. It’s not difficult to understand the reason though. He had a very good T-20 world cup and now has had a terrific IPL too. As if to celebrate his comeback to the Indian team for the T-20 world cup, he removed Sanath and Sachin in successive deliveries and got back the purple cap too! With Mumbai on the back foot straightaway, it required all the solidity of Duminy to pave their way back into the match. And just when they seemed to be cruising along, Bravo holed out to long off.
After the fall of Bravo, it was a Rohit Sharma show all the way. He picked up the second hat-trick of this IPL to finish with figures of 4 for 6 off 2 overs. What’s about these pie-chuckers and hat-trick in this IPL? Once Duminy was gone, Mumbai had no hope left.
R.P.Singh has had no inhibitions in expressing his love for the SA wickets both on the field and off it. It’s not difficult to understand the reason though. He had a very good T-20 world cup and now has had a terrific IPL too. As if to celebrate his comeback to the Indian team for the T-20 world cup, he removed Sanath and Sachin in successive deliveries and got back the purple cap too! With Mumbai on the back foot straightaway, it required all the solidity of Duminy to pave their way back into the match. And just when they seemed to be cruising along, Bravo holed out to long off.
After the fall of Bravo, it was a Rohit Sharma show all the way. He picked up the second hat-trick of this IPL to finish with figures of 4 for 6 off 2 overs. What’s about these pie-chuckers and hat-trick in this IPL? Once Duminy was gone, Mumbai had no hope left.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
IPL Day 18: Royal Rajasthan and hapless KKR
Everytime RR had been categorized as favorites they have lost and every time they were written off they have comeback – the team’s character seems to be an extension of the captain’s. Oh boy did their openers come out blazing today! Where was Naman Ojha all this while? He launched into Ramesh Powar even before the bowler could warm up which set the tone for the match.
Graeme Smith, who’s had a quiet tournament by his standards couldn’t have timed his return to form better. If he played the second fiddle to perfection in the previous match, he was at his belligerent best today. Then Ravinder Jadeja came out and showed us why Shane Warne rates him so high. It was a blitzkrieg that sucked whatever little life was left out of King’s XI.
With the tournament’s highest score to chase, King’s XI badly needed a flying start and once that wasn’t to be, they were going down the hill all the time. Yuvraj provided a bit of fireworks at the end but it was too little too late. And where does Shane Warne scout for fast bowling talent? Amit Singh gave a good account of himself in a quality spell. It’s exciting to see domestic players expressing themselves on such a grand stage.
And the second match of the day had no surprises with KKR looking as clueless on the field as they have been with the bat and ball so far in this tournament. For once McCullum got going and with van Wyk providing the much needed inspiration for KKR at the top of the order, there was some hope of making a turnaround in their fortunes.
But that little hope faded away completely in a hopeless display of fielding. And Delhi were anyways too strong to be overwhelmed by a just about par total. Delhi has looked the best team on paper since beginning and they are doing their reputation no harm by being ruthless on the field so far in this IPL.
Graeme Smith, who’s had a quiet tournament by his standards couldn’t have timed his return to form better. If he played the second fiddle to perfection in the previous match, he was at his belligerent best today. Then Ravinder Jadeja came out and showed us why Shane Warne rates him so high. It was a blitzkrieg that sucked whatever little life was left out of King’s XI.
With the tournament’s highest score to chase, King’s XI badly needed a flying start and once that wasn’t to be, they were going down the hill all the time. Yuvraj provided a bit of fireworks at the end but it was too little too late. And where does Shane Warne scout for fast bowling talent? Amit Singh gave a good account of himself in a quality spell. It’s exciting to see domestic players expressing themselves on such a grand stage.
And the second match of the day had no surprises with KKR looking as clueless on the field as they have been with the bat and ball so far in this tournament. For once McCullum got going and with van Wyk providing the much needed inspiration for KKR at the top of the order, there was some hope of making a turnaround in their fortunes.
But that little hope faded away completely in a hopeless display of fielding. And Delhi were anyways too strong to be overwhelmed by a just about par total. Delhi has looked the best team on paper since beginning and they are doing their reputation no harm by being ruthless on the field so far in this IPL.
Monday, May 4, 2009
IPL Day 17: CSK bulldozes past Deccan
Just by looking at the scorecard, if you can figure out how dominant CSK was against the Deccan Chargers, watching CSK’s fielding would have told you that the result could have been much worse for Deccan. In what must be rated as one of the funniest moments on a cricket field, Shadab Jakati did everything he could to avoid effecting what must one of the easiest run-out chances ever. It was such a comedy of errors that even Courtney Walsh would have been embarrassed to see! Add that to the near half a dozen dropped chances…
Albeit a poor show on the field, CSK bulldozed past Deccan with consummate ease. After yet another blazing start from Matt Hayden, Dhoni came into his own for the first time in this tournament. His belligerence is not something new to us, but that farmer’s club straight back past the bowler was some sight. Is that wrist or something else? There was the trademark down the track heave over mid wicket and the Kapil Dev resembling pull too in an innings which befittingly got Dhoni a MOM award. And like always Suresh Raina played his part to the “T”.
If there is any team which is capable of chasing down Chennai’s mammoth total, Deccan is one of them. But it was curtains for them even before it began with Gilly walking back to the pavilion after the very first ball of the innings. And Sudeep Tyagi continued to impress with a beauty to get rid of the dangerous Gibbs. There was nothing special from the Very Very Special Laxman too.
From 1 for 3 (3 wickets for one run) chasing 179, Deccan needed a miracle to get back into the match, they almost got half of it, a quarter from Dwayne Smith’s maverick batting and a quarter from CSK’s amusing fielding! Jakati cashed in on good work done by Tyagi and Morkel with his second consecutive four wicket haul. There’s something about Goan’s and IPL. It was Asnodkar last year and Jakati this year who earned himself a release from the obscurity of domestic cricket! Hopefully more such men emerge…
Albeit a poor show on the field, CSK bulldozed past Deccan with consummate ease. After yet another blazing start from Matt Hayden, Dhoni came into his own for the first time in this tournament. His belligerence is not something new to us, but that farmer’s club straight back past the bowler was some sight. Is that wrist or something else? There was the trademark down the track heave over mid wicket and the Kapil Dev resembling pull too in an innings which befittingly got Dhoni a MOM award. And like always Suresh Raina played his part to the “T”.
If there is any team which is capable of chasing down Chennai’s mammoth total, Deccan is one of them. But it was curtains for them even before it began with Gilly walking back to the pavilion after the very first ball of the innings. And Sudeep Tyagi continued to impress with a beauty to get rid of the dangerous Gibbs. There was nothing special from the Very Very Special Laxman too.
From 1 for 3 (3 wickets for one run) chasing 179, Deccan needed a miracle to get back into the match, they almost got half of it, a quarter from Dwayne Smith’s maverick batting and a quarter from CSK’s amusing fielding! Jakati cashed in on good work done by Tyagi and Morkel with his second consecutive four wicket haul. There’s something about Goan’s and IPL. It was Asnodkar last year and Jakati this year who earned himself a release from the obscurity of domestic cricket! Hopefully more such men emerge…
Sunday, May 3, 2009
IPL Day 16: Royal Challengers are back….
Royal Challengers turned in their most professional performance yet in their IPL history against Mumbai Indians. To restrict Mumbai to less than 150 was crucial given the fact that Mumbai arguably has the best bowling attack in the tournament. The newcomer Du Preez ensured that Mumbai didn’t get much momentum upfront by dismissing 3 top order batsmen in no time including the crucial scalp of Sachin. Jayasuriya and Bravo repaired the early damage to an extent and posted a competitive score on the board. With Mumbai’s strong bowling line up and B’lore’s perennial opening woes, Sachin would have felt comfortable going into the innings break.
Like they have done in almost every match of IPL, B’lore came out with yet another opening pair – Jaffer and Kallis. But Jaffer didn’t last long which brought in the man who was playing for the opponents in the last year’s IPL! Uthappa has had a forgettable tournament so far, but he set a few things right today. With Kallis taking on Malinga & co in a classy counter attacking innings, Uthappa was content on playing himself in. And once he was set, launched into the second string bowling of Mumbai big time. An in-form Uthappa is great news for the team which is slowly but surely on the ascendancy in this tournament. After such a thoroughly professional victory, it takes a brave man to rule B’lore out of contention for one of the semi-final spots.
In the first match of the day, it was an all too familiar story for KKR. After a rather nervous start, KKR looked to be going down even without a fight till Brad Hodge took it upon himself to put on a challenging score on the board. He really carried on his rich vein of form from the last match and played a very good innings. He’s the only batsman in KKR to have got a fifty (2 of them now) in this IPL! Even though commentators were creating artificial excitement about the last ball finish, Punjab never looked like losing it or to put it more appropriately, KKR never looked like winning it. And they don’t look like winning too many more in this tournament. First fix the team guys, captaincy comes later…….
Like they have done in almost every match of IPL, B’lore came out with yet another opening pair – Jaffer and Kallis. But Jaffer didn’t last long which brought in the man who was playing for the opponents in the last year’s IPL! Uthappa has had a forgettable tournament so far, but he set a few things right today. With Kallis taking on Malinga & co in a classy counter attacking innings, Uthappa was content on playing himself in. And once he was set, launched into the second string bowling of Mumbai big time. An in-form Uthappa is great news for the team which is slowly but surely on the ascendancy in this tournament. After such a thoroughly professional victory, it takes a brave man to rule B’lore out of contention for one of the semi-final spots.
In the first match of the day, it was an all too familiar story for KKR. After a rather nervous start, KKR looked to be going down even without a fight till Brad Hodge took it upon himself to put on a challenging score on the board. He really carried on his rich vein of form from the last match and played a very good innings. He’s the only batsman in KKR to have got a fifty (2 of them now) in this IPL! Even though commentators were creating artificial excitement about the last ball finish, Punjab never looked like losing it or to put it more appropriately, KKR never looked like winning it. And they don’t look like winning too many more in this tournament. First fix the team guys, captaincy comes later…….
Saturday, May 2, 2009
IPL Days 9 to 15: Hectic time……..
It’s been a hectic time at office…….. So couldn’t catch up with most of the matches this week leave alone having the time to write about ‘em. My thoughts on watching bits and pieces of the matches this week:
Oh boy did Sachin and Sanath turn the clock back by a decade against KKR. As if KKR didn’t have enough problems to contend with, these two veterans decided to put on a show and what an astounding show it turned out to be! It was such an audacious assault that KKR didn't quite recover from the shock when they came out to bat too and folded like a pack of cards. For all the magic of spin wizards and the breathtaking finishes by Yousuf Pathan, watching Sachin bat the way he did against KKR was probably the most satisfying aspect of this IPL so far. I know I am being biased here but I can’t be anything else with Sachin! The way Sachin smashed Ishant for a six over mid-wicket was a picture stolen straight out of Nairobi….
Not only is Sachin turning the clock as a batsman but also as a captain too. After a superlative start with Jayasuriya ended in the match against KKR, Harbhajan came in as a pinch hitter and smashed a few too. He so loves the idea of a pinch hitter that he sent Bhajji at no.3 in the next match as well. A decade back when he was captaining India, Srinath was almost a permanent No.3 against SA in a ODI series…… What’s even worse was in a home test match against NZ; he didn’t enforce the follow on reasoning that his bowlers needed rest so that they could come back fresh in the 4th innings to bowl NZ out. Then he sends Srinath at No.3 in the second innings as a pinch hitter – what a way to rest your strike bowler!
Just what is Yousuf Pathan made of? He’s turning out to be a one man army for RR. To come in at 64 for 5 in 11 overs with 81 required from the remaining 9 overs, against arguably the best team in the tournament, he put on a royal show of breathtaking stroke play and what more he finishes with a over and half to spare! One more wicket at that stage would have been curtains for RR but there’s no such negativity in Yousuf Pathan’s thought process. A good part of that credit should go to Shane Warne too who’s given him the space and liberty to play his natural game under all circumstances. I wonder if there’s a more dangerous batsman in this tournament at the moment. He’s almost a poor man’s Richards at the moment…..
Sanga’s hunch…. Chasing 120, Mumbai would have fancied their chances going into the break but after a top order collapse with the scoreboard reading 12 for 3 in 4.1 overs; it required every ounce of the skill and grit of JP Duminy to pull the match back in Mumbai’s favour. Just as he was doing it, Yuvraj left the field with an injury handing over the captaincy reins to Sanga. With 19 runs required from 2 overs and a rock solid Duminy still at the crease, Sanga gave the ball to Abdullah for the penultimate over. And as he was walking back to his mark, changed his mind and tossed the ball to Piyush Chawla who had given away 19 runs in his 2 overs. And did Piyush justify his captain’s faith on him! Apart from getting Bhajji’s wicket, he only gave away 7 runs of the over making life easier for Abdullah. But Duminy almost spoilt the show for Abdullah with a heave over midwicket which had some of the Mumbai Indians owners’ friends jumping in joy only to realize later that it had found the fielder’s hands….
Could this be the turning point for B’lore? For a team which has an extraordinary ability to dig itself into trouble, the way they kept coming back against Kings’ XI despite Yuvraj’s heroics with both the bat and the ball was refreshing. Ian Chappell often says that Kumble is one of fiercest competitors on a cricket field that he’s seen. And if anyone thought he wouldn’t be the same competitor post retirement, just watch the video clips of him celebrating Yuvraj’s and Sangakkara’s dismissal. After a nervous victory over KKR, this victory from the jaws of defeat would have given a lot of confidence to Mallya’s boys. Hopefully they make it count.
CSK is inching their way back after a rather disappointing start to the tournament. Finally Dhoni realized that Badri is a top-order batsman and one of the best going around in domestic cricket at that! Is Balaji making a comeback here…..For a guy who couldn’t bowl for nearly 2 years, his performances in the Ranji Trophy last season and this IPL so far have been very impressive indeed. He’s still not the same bowler as he was against Pakistan 3 years ago but the fact that he’s reached this stage from a near hopeless situation is commendable. And does Raina love his time in IPL! What a blinder of an innings he played against RR. He almost single-handedly won the match for CSK. And with Sudeep Tyagi and Jakati settling in well in the team, hopefully Dhoni shouldn’t complain too much about his bowling any more. And if Dhoni could find some form, CSK has both the skill and the character to go all the way.
Is Lasith Malinga the most valuable player in this IPL so far? Or is it Yousuf Pathan?
Oh boy did Sachin and Sanath turn the clock back by a decade against KKR. As if KKR didn’t have enough problems to contend with, these two veterans decided to put on a show and what an astounding show it turned out to be! It was such an audacious assault that KKR didn't quite recover from the shock when they came out to bat too and folded like a pack of cards. For all the magic of spin wizards and the breathtaking finishes by Yousuf Pathan, watching Sachin bat the way he did against KKR was probably the most satisfying aspect of this IPL so far. I know I am being biased here but I can’t be anything else with Sachin! The way Sachin smashed Ishant for a six over mid-wicket was a picture stolen straight out of Nairobi….
Not only is Sachin turning the clock as a batsman but also as a captain too. After a superlative start with Jayasuriya ended in the match against KKR, Harbhajan came in as a pinch hitter and smashed a few too. He so loves the idea of a pinch hitter that he sent Bhajji at no.3 in the next match as well. A decade back when he was captaining India, Srinath was almost a permanent No.3 against SA in a ODI series…… What’s even worse was in a home test match against NZ; he didn’t enforce the follow on reasoning that his bowlers needed rest so that they could come back fresh in the 4th innings to bowl NZ out. Then he sends Srinath at No.3 in the second innings as a pinch hitter – what a way to rest your strike bowler!
Just what is Yousuf Pathan made of? He’s turning out to be a one man army for RR. To come in at 64 for 5 in 11 overs with 81 required from the remaining 9 overs, against arguably the best team in the tournament, he put on a royal show of breathtaking stroke play and what more he finishes with a over and half to spare! One more wicket at that stage would have been curtains for RR but there’s no such negativity in Yousuf Pathan’s thought process. A good part of that credit should go to Shane Warne too who’s given him the space and liberty to play his natural game under all circumstances. I wonder if there’s a more dangerous batsman in this tournament at the moment. He’s almost a poor man’s Richards at the moment…..
Sanga’s hunch…. Chasing 120, Mumbai would have fancied their chances going into the break but after a top order collapse with the scoreboard reading 12 for 3 in 4.1 overs; it required every ounce of the skill and grit of JP Duminy to pull the match back in Mumbai’s favour. Just as he was doing it, Yuvraj left the field with an injury handing over the captaincy reins to Sanga. With 19 runs required from 2 overs and a rock solid Duminy still at the crease, Sanga gave the ball to Abdullah for the penultimate over. And as he was walking back to his mark, changed his mind and tossed the ball to Piyush Chawla who had given away 19 runs in his 2 overs. And did Piyush justify his captain’s faith on him! Apart from getting Bhajji’s wicket, he only gave away 7 runs of the over making life easier for Abdullah. But Duminy almost spoilt the show for Abdullah with a heave over midwicket which had some of the Mumbai Indians owners’ friends jumping in joy only to realize later that it had found the fielder’s hands….
Could this be the turning point for B’lore? For a team which has an extraordinary ability to dig itself into trouble, the way they kept coming back against Kings’ XI despite Yuvraj’s heroics with both the bat and the ball was refreshing. Ian Chappell often says that Kumble is one of fiercest competitors on a cricket field that he’s seen. And if anyone thought he wouldn’t be the same competitor post retirement, just watch the video clips of him celebrating Yuvraj’s and Sangakkara’s dismissal. After a nervous victory over KKR, this victory from the jaws of defeat would have given a lot of confidence to Mallya’s boys. Hopefully they make it count.
CSK is inching their way back after a rather disappointing start to the tournament. Finally Dhoni realized that Badri is a top-order batsman and one of the best going around in domestic cricket at that! Is Balaji making a comeback here…..For a guy who couldn’t bowl for nearly 2 years, his performances in the Ranji Trophy last season and this IPL so far have been very impressive indeed. He’s still not the same bowler as he was against Pakistan 3 years ago but the fact that he’s reached this stage from a near hopeless situation is commendable. And does Raina love his time in IPL! What a blinder of an innings he played against RR. He almost single-handedly won the match for CSK. And with Sudeep Tyagi and Jakati settling in well in the team, hopefully Dhoni shouldn’t complain too much about his bowling any more. And if Dhoni could find some form, CSK has both the skill and the character to go all the way.
Is Lasith Malinga the most valuable player in this IPL so far? Or is it Yousuf Pathan?
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