Champs League T20

With the Champs League T20 around the corner, here is a quick snapshot of the groups and the schedule of the matches:

GROUP A
Deccan Chargers
Somerset
Trinidad & Tobago

GROUP B
Eagles
New South Wales
Sussex

GROUP C
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Cape Cobras
Otago

GROUP D
Delhi Daredevils
Victoria
Wayamba

Here is the fixture list.

IPL 2 - a review

As the dust settles over Johannesburg and the people get back to their daily routines, the cricketing world (read Asian bloc) readies itself for the World T20 championship, due to begin next week. The more traditional folks are all set for the Ashes, which begins in July. Either way, IPL is soon becoming a forgotten chapter, albeit a great money-spinning one at that. 

I must admit before hand that I am not a hardcore cricket series review writer. I honestly do not delude myself to write about a tournament that saw 59 matches in 37 days. Its just too cumbersome to gather the memories and embellish them with attractive adjectives. However, I will make a small attempt to reason some things:

• First things first. Let's start with the name. If this is the Indian Premier League, what/where is the division two? If this is supposedly a scaled-down version of the European domestic football leagues, then wouldn't the competitiveness of the matches be increased a bit more by the fear of relegation to and the reward of promotion from lower divisions? And also, there have been reports that come 2011, the number of franchises will increase to 10, which in turn, will increase the total number of league games to 72 from the current 56. In such a scenario, the number of permutations and combinations arising from potential semi-finalists will be so mind-boggling, mathematicians will have their tasks cut out. Before long, I reckon there will arise a pressing need to make it simpler. 
  
  
• The format of the tournament needs a serious rethink. It makes no sense that the winning team (Deccan Chargers) entered the semi-finals over another (Kings XI Punjab) having the same number of points but dropped out only because of an inferior run-rate while the team (Delhi Daredevils) that looked most likely to lift the trophy and played like one crashed out at the semi-finals stage for the second season running. Delhi would have an excellent reason to feel aggrieved at the format that will punish 14 days of good performance by one day (nay, 3 hours) of superior cricket by the opposition. 
  
  
• The strategic break, unlike what most people think and latch on to, works both ways. It's all fine if the batting team racks up a hefty score (80+ for 2 wickets or something like that) in 10 overs and the bowling team has no opportunity to regroup and rethink their strategy. If anything, matches in IPL 2 were more closely fought than IPL 1, not primarily because of the strategy break, but also because of the bouncier pitches and a majority of the national teams coming off tours. This is not to suggest that I am a fan of strategy breaks. They are a right pain in the you-know-where when I'm catching the match on TV. 
  
  
• It's a tremendous insult to the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Anil Kumble and their respective sides to not be appreciated or be given an opportunity to savor the hardwork of reaching a final and ensuring those watching the game get a splendid encounter. The organizers' decision to have the Closing Ceremony before the prizes were distributed to the participating teams, officials and groundstaff smacked of insouciant arrogance. Personally, and I am not entirely sure I will be contradicted on this, the cricket comprehensively outperformed the glitz and the glamour that followed.
  
  
• There were some noises, most notably from John Buchanan, the coach of Kolkata Knight Riders and his counterpart from Delhi, Greg Shipperd, about increasing the number of foreign players per playing XI. Their argument holds thin water, simply because, if the intention of this tournament was to unearth hidden gems of Indian domestic cricket, then Manish Pandey, Shadab Jakati, the two Ojhas (Pragyan and Naman), among others have succeeded in fulfilling those hopes. In addition, just because your bench strength includes the likes of Glenn McGrath, Chaminda Vaas or Mashrafe Mortaza, you just can't complain that you don't have enough opportunities to play them. Royal Challengers Bangalore never had the same line-up for consecutive matches until the fag end of the tournament and ended up giving opportunities to almost all their players. It is quite a different thing that they were forced to, rather than intend to, look for a stable XI in their quest for the semi-finals, given their inconsistent run at the beginning of the tournament. 
  
  
• Overalll, fielding was extremely poor. Almost one catch was dropped per match, if not per inning. Maybe, the cold evenings didn't help, but that is no excuse for internationally renowned fielders like Gibbs (against Delhi in the first semi-final) and Uthappa (against Deccan in the last league game) to drop dollies. Oh, the man who holds the world record for most catches by an outfielder in Test cricket muffed one in the final. Pressure can strike anywhere and to anyone, isn't it, Rahul Dravid?
  

Congratulations to Deccan Chargers for winning this IPL. Congratulations to Royal Challengers Bangalore as well, for turning the corner and playing like Imran Khan once called his 1992 World Cup winning team, "cornered tigers". Hope the next season is as good as this one.

A league of extraordinary matches

If Bangalore and Delhi showed how to chase this week, KKR and Punjab demonstrated how to botch it up. Their targets were under run-a-ball and while KKR managed to get themselves over the line (and simultaneously drag Rajasthan along with them to the tournament exit door), Punjab destroyed their chances of making the semi-final with an abject batting display, undoing the good work of their bowlers. Ironic, considering how people had said their batting outweighed their bowling before the tournament started. This is nothing to take away from Chennai's spinners, who strangled Punjab's batters and forced them to commit errors. When a side concedes 38 runs off 12 overs of spin and takes 6 wickets in the bargain, there can be only 1 winner, even with a gettable total. 

Punjab's loss yesterday opened a huge window for Deccan and Bangalore, specifically for the latter, as the margin of crashing out of IPL 2 became a lot wider for them. And they duly obliged, with Manish Pandey, a 19-year-old youngster from Karnataka slogging and cutting his way to become the first Indian centurion over 2 seasons (aptly at Centurion). Spurred by on his ton and a late flourish from Virat Kohli, Bangalore finished at 170-4, setting up a strong case for qualification. If Punjab had to qualify, Deccan had to overhaul that total in 11.2 overs, an-almost impossible task. Expectedly, Bangalore ensured this did not happen and as if to prove that they didn't really want net run-rates to come into the picture, defeated Deccan by 12 runs. Gibbs and Gilchrist had got off to a rocket start, again, and though Gilly fell early, Gibbs motored along and took advantage of an easy life at 49. However, after he fell, Deccan collapsed to a mild extent and ultimately left themselves with a mammoth task of getting 26 off the last over. Rohit Sharma would have fancied his chances, but he was already out by then, accounted for by Kumble. He would be quietly satisfied at the performance of the other bowlers, especially Akhil and Kohli, who stood up when Kallis limped off with a hamstring problem. 

With the league matches all done and dusted with, the semi-final line up reads thus:

FIRST SEMI-FINAL - MAY 22, 2009, CENTURION

Delhi Daredevils vs Deccan Chargers

With their 2nd loss on the trot, Deccan would have no momentum. But, only a complete idiot would rule out a team that has Gilchrist, Gibbs, Symonds, Rohit Sharma, and the current Purple Cap owner, RP Singh. Delhi may have won twice against Deccan during the league but, they will look at erasing the memories of embarrassing loss in IPL 1's semi-final against Rajasthan. The most encouraging sign for them would be the welcome return to form of Virender Sehwag. Their bowling is top-class and with a very stable middle-order and a terrific death-bowler in Rajat Bhatia, they will look to chase against Deccan, considering Rohit Sharma's recent Houdini's acts. 

SECOND SEMI-FINAL - MAY 23, 2009, JOHANNESBURG

Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Surprise, surprise. Bangalore's last 3 opponents in the league phase were Chennai, Delhi and Deccan (this year's semifinalists, if you missed the point) and all were defeated. It may be argued that Chennai and Delhi handed their matches on a platter with some poor batting, but Bangalore's bowling was also praise-worthy. Chennai and Bangalore shared their league encounters this year, like they did last year. While this may seem that both teams are evenly matched, Chennai have the edge in terms of batting, with 2 of the top 5 run-getters in their ranks (Hayden and Raina). Expect Dhoni to warn his team severely against any semblance of complacency, considering the public lashing he gave his bowlers after KKR's remarkable chase against them a few days ago. Bangalore would be worried by Kallis leaving the field today but, have an extra day to get him back to match fitness. Their more pressing concern would be fielding, as Uthappa put down yet another sitter today. 

And, finally, the Knights shine forth...

Or, should I say, the only Knight. 

Brendon McCullum has had the worst fate among all his teammates. Simply because, he has had to explain all the losses his team have been facing to the media and others who have been hurling those questions relentlessly. Granted, it was his responsibility to face them, but, how long could one keep forking out reasons for one demoralizing defeat after another, when it was plain for everyone to see that it was a combination of ill-luck, pathetic bowling, lack of support for batsmen in form and a petulant owner who, instead of offering encouragement, flew back home suggesting that his team let him down, still getting publicity on the way?

A majority of the cricketing world agrees that the Aussies are a tough lot, revel in adversity and more often than not, ensure that their losses are well-earned for their opponents. McCullum fits this type, as he has a remarkable fighting spirit and an inspiring faith in his abilities in the face of a potentially soul-crushing challenge. 

KKR were up against one of the pace-setters of this edition and while Chennai may have been off the boil for the last few matches, their back-up players are no less classy. Hayden and Murali have been rolling back the years in their respective departments, ably supported by Raina and Jakati. Indeed, if anything, their fielding has been their biggest let-down and despite Dhoni publicly pointing out that alarming deficiency, Chennai have done nothing to stem the rot, with Oram enrolling himself in the Butterfingers Brethren Court today. He won't be the last one, for sure. 

One of my earlier posts was about how some matches were going down to the last over. I'd thought that was as close as it could get. How wrong I was. The last few matches have gone to the last ball. Deccan vs Kolkata. Deccan vs Punjab. And Kolkata vs Chennai today. This tournament is definitely not for the faint-hearted. Oh, I wasn't mentioning about playing! 

Revenge is...

...a dish, best served cold (or in the case of Rajasthan, piping hot).

For sure, they were hurting after that humiliating loss against Punjab a week ago. Humiliating because, they had to chase a par score and they fell well short of the target, giving 3 wickets to a relative newbie, current purple cap holder, Yusuf Abdullah. So, it was only a matter of time before they turned on the screws with a blazing display. 

Yuvraj made 2 big mistakes today: one, to field first after winning the toss and two, to drop himself down the batting order. The second blunder may be condoned partly due to the shambolic performance by Punjab's bowlers, but, if he needed to lead from the front, then, nothing else could have motivated his team more than opening the batting. This is not to take anything away from the splendid opening pair of Smith and Ojha, mind you. They seemed to hit the ground running and even though Yusuf Pathan fell cheaply, the platform they set was ideal for a 200+ score. 

Brendon McCullum finally managed to get some boundaries today, but, ironically, it was Brad Hodge who chose the wrong gears just when KKR needed acceleration. So, KKR ended up with 154, which could have been defended gamely, if only their fielding was much better than it was. Speaking of which (I did not see yesterday's match), Chennai's almost cost them the match against a cavalier Deccan. MS Dhoni hit the nail on the head by saying that their batting and bowling are hiding a schoolboy fielding unit, but, they may pay the price in a low-scoring match. Which, given the fact that most venues (with the exception of Jo'burg) are seeing low-scoring affairs, might not be too far away. 

With the race for the semifinal spots well and truly hotting up, net run rates could prove to be very crucial in the final reckoning. And the funny thing is, Mumbai and Deccan are separated by just one point (Mumbai have 7, Deccan 8), but Mumbai have the superior net RR and they are 7th in the table, while Deccan are 4th. And most interestingly, these two will fight it out tomorrow. Adam Gilchrist's side has now lost 3 matches consecutively and they will be dead keen to arrest that slide. Mumbai, on the other hand, are playing like Pakistan used to do, some years back. With the exception of that rained off match against Rajasthan, their record in this tournament reads thus: W-L-W-L-W-L. They will be concerned about their top-order now, and given the fact that Zaheer won't play tomorrow (as he sustained a shoulder niggle while fielding against Bangalore on Sunday), their bowling will be a bit weaker as well. I'm going for Deccan to win tomorrow, unless, they contrive to self-destruct again. 

Bulldozed at the Bull Ring

Will wonders never cease? Barely had a week passed since Bangalore found themselves at the bottom of table, they are now joint top (albeit having played one more game) with Delhi, Deccan, and Punjab. And at the end of the first day of IPL 2, they were top (thanks to a superior run-rate after their emphatic win over Rajasthan). So, they have traversed the table in both directions in 15 days. Talk about unpredictability!

I am highly annoyed at Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar. Legends they may be, but, impartial commentators, they definitely are not. Right from the time Danny Morrison asked Sunny for his opinion of the pitch (and this happened soon after Tendulkar won the toss and promptly decided to bat), these 2 went on and on about Mumbai is doing this well and so on. I mean, even when Bangalore had done a great job of restricting them to a very gettable 150 on an apparent batting paradise, Ravi Shastri had the gall to say that the pitch might not be as conducive for batting as it was initially thought. Which means, he would rather blame the pitch for a poor total than be honest and give credit where its due - a fine spell from IPL debutant Dillon du Preez and poor shot selection from Mumbai's batsmen. Thankfully, during the post-match presentation, he had the decency to admit that Mumbai were comprehensively outbatted by a chanceless, unbeaten 126-run partnership between Jacques Kallis and Robin Uthappa. Sit on the fence, you biased idiots!

The other match between KKR and Punjab ended in another last-over nailbiter. Poor Brad Hodge must be wondering what more he must do to be part of a winning team. For the second time in as many matches, he gave respectability to his increasingly demoralised franchise and, from a neutral observer's perspective, should have been the choice for MOM. How could you award MOM to a player on the losing team (Yuvraj against Bangalore) and not take the same yardstick for another player today? It beats all logic!

Monday's match sees Deccan versus Chennai. Chennai have now won 2 games on the trot defending gettable totals and that means their bowlers are outperforming their batters. Dhoni himself admitted: 

"I think my batting is pathetic in the tournament so far. All the big-hitters including Albie Morkel, Jacob Oram and I didn't really click. We need to perform in the future as we are a side that relies heavily on its batting. If one of us clicks in future and with our top-order performing well we can give good targets to our bowlers to defend. And that is our strategy."

Given Deccan's lack of composure in the end overs of their last 2 matches, Dhoni, Morkel and Oram will look to capitalize on that slight weakness. Also, the absence of the feisty Edwards could hurt for Deccan. I reckon Chennai will make it a hattrick of wins tomorrow, just as Bangalore did today.

Thrillers...

Since my last post, some matches have gone right down to the wire. Picture this:

14th match: Royal Challengers Bangalore v Delhi Daredevils at Port Elizabeth - Apr 26, 2009
Delhi Daredevils won by 6 wickets (with 4 balls remaining)
Royal Challengers Bangalore 149/7 (20/20 ov); Delhi Daredevils 150/4 (19.2/20 ov)

16th match: Chennai Super Kings v Deccan Chargers at Durban - Apr 27, 2009
Deccan Chargers won by 6 wickets (with 3 balls remaining)
Chennai Super Kings 165/6 (20/20 ov); Deccan Chargers 169/4 (19.3/20 ov)

19th match: Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kolkata Knight Riders at Durban - Apr 29, 2009
Royal Challengers Bangalore won by 5 wickets (with 1 ball remaining)
Kolkata Knight Riders 139/6 (20/20 ov); Royal Challengers Bangalore 143/5 (19.5/20 ov)

20th match: Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians at Durban - Apr 29, 2009
Kings XI Punjab won by 3 runs
Kings XI Punjab 119/8 (20/20 ov); Mumbai Indians 116/7 (20/20 ov)

23rd match: Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians at East London - May 1, 2009
Mumbai Indians won by 9 runs
Mumbai Indians 148/6 (20/20 ov); Kolkata Knight Riders 139/6 (20/20 ov)

24th match: Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kings XI Punjab at Durban - May 1, 2009
Royal Challengers Bangalore won by 8 runs
Royal Challengers Bangalore 145/9 (20/20 ov); Kings XI Punjab 137/7 (20/20 ov)

As you can see above, (and also from the table on the left), IPL 2009 is a more open affair than its predecessor. With the exception of the clueless KKR, the rest of the teams must fancy themselves in matches, given the close nature of finishes. The premium focus is now on nerves, not skill. That matters, of course, but as van der Merwe would admit, skill would only get you to a reasonable winning stage. It's your nerves that will help you cross the line, as demonstrated by the courageous Praveen Kumar who bowled a fantastic last over to prevent Punjab from getting 13 off 6 in the 20th over. 

Bangalore must be cock-a-hoop after this win, given that they have now lost KP's services (the fact that he was hardly contributing is another matter), while Punjab will feel they have done a Bangalore - snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. When Yuvraj departed, the equation was a very gettable 77 off 61 and a batting order that boasted of Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Katich and Pathan would have definitely put the odds in their favor. 

However, a few things need ironing out for both teams. Bangalore (especially Ryder) still suffer from first-over-bogeys while Punjab's middle order performance will need a closer look, batting and bowling alike. Come to think of that, did anyone notice that no less than 7 of their total 9 batters who came out to the middle today were left handers (Yuvraj, Goel, Sangakkara, Katich, Pathan, Chawla and Shrivastav) ? And that is discounting Abdulla, whose player profile reads batting style as left-hand. Maybe, they ought to rename themselves as Left Handers XI Punjab!

The earlier match of today saw Mumbai take on KKR. Mumbai must have been badly hurting after that last-gasp loss against Punjab the other day and turned in a performance that will have pleased their owners a lot. Tendulkar departed just when the innings needed a shift of gears, but he need not have worried as that was provided by the ever-improving JP Duminy. And when the time came for defense, Zaheer chipped in with 3 crucial wickets and despite Hodge's stubborn resistance, it was too little too late for KKR. They have now lost their last 3 games and His Highness Lord of Many Brains Better Than One John Buchanan must now have a lot in his plate. 

It's now close to halfway stage of IPL 2 and though Delhi and Deccan have now lost their perfect record, they remain the teams to beat. The mid-table scramble is hotting up and with a host of interesting clashes in store, expect teams to move up (and drop down) in the table. The competition is only beginning!

Spin doctors, fast and furious!

3 out of 3.

That's Deccan's win record so far, announcing themselves as genuine contenders as the team to beat along with Delhi. Mustering only 168/9 thanks to some ferocious death bowling from Malinga and Bravo, Deccan proved that they can defend chaseable totals with some fearsome pace of their own. Oh, did I forget Pragyan Ojha? With wickets of Tendulkar, Duminy, and Dhawan, one would be indeed blind to overlook his fine effort.

As it is with most teams having gained decent momentum while batting, Mumbai would feel mildly aggrieved that the strategic timeout came at the most inappropriate time for them. Tendulkar was shepherding Duminy like a Master and a consummate win looked on the cards. Post-break, Tendulkar added only one more run before getting out and the rest of Mumbai followed him pretty cheaply, with the exception of Harbhajan Singh. That said, Ojha was the only candidate for the MOM award, Having had the best of some acclaimed batters in this competition so far, it would be really interesting to see how he fares against Hayden, Sehwag, and Gayle, the most explosive openers in this edition.  

Sunday's matches are Bangalore vs Delhi and Punjab vs Rajasthan. The first clash would probably see Delhi take it, given Bangalore's poor run and Delhi's excellent win over Chennai. The second one will involve the Pathan brothers, both crucial to their captains. Yusuf gave another demonstration of how murderous he can be against spinners against Kolkata the other day while Irfan got his bowling boots on and managed to get 3 vital wickets in their win against Bangalore. An even contest is in the offing, as Rajasthan's top order is not firing that well while Punjab's bowling still looks a bit weak.

Some news about players now. Andrew Flintoff has returned home to undergo knee surgery, which would mean that he will be ruled out of the England-West Indies series. This news is bad for England, no doubt, but, in hindsight, they would feel relieved that this happened now and not just before the Aussies come visiting for the Ashes  in May. Also, Rahul Dravid is expected to return home on paternity leave (maybe, he has already), to be with his wife expecting their second child. And as the rest of England's squad are expected to report for the WI series next week, which would see KP leave them as well, Bangalore would miss 2 of their starting middle-order batters. More concern for Bangalore's think-tank. 

Kings indeed!

Trends are meant to be broken. This seemed to be Ravi Bopara's motto when he led Punjab to their first victory in IPL 2009. You don't have to whack boundaries to reach a competitive total, teams batting second can win and above all, pacing an innings will always pay rich dividends, even in T20. A richly deserved win, laced with enormous relief that rain didn't play a part (as Yuvraj alluded in the post-match presentation) and now they are on 2 points as well.

On the other side, worries mount for KP and Ray Jennings. Having demonstrated back-to-back failures in chasing totals, Bangalore have now failed to defend a total that was much higher than the one they scored in their opening encounter. To make matters worse, the captain himself flopped this time, and pressure will be applied by the owner on KP to deliver. To make matters even worse (if such a thing is possible), defending champions Rajasthan lost only 3 matches last year all through the tournament, which is the number of losses Bangalore has racked up so far. Clearly, a lot of work needs to be done to get into the winning mode. Not to mention that the next match Bangalore has is against Delhi, one of the frontrunners for this edition.

Saturday's double header sees high-flying Deccan take on Mumbai while Chennai and Kolkata will fight it out to get back to winning ways. Deccan have made a strong statement in this edition, their bowling has been first-class and the fielding, inspirational. And if Gilly continues to belt the ball like he did against Bangalore the other day, very few things could prevent them landing the title this year. Spectators were unfortunately deprived of a classic battle between Tendulkar and Warne, but, if all goes well, a mouth-watering contest could well be in the offing between Mumbai's marauding batting pair and the dangerous Edwards-RP Singh opening bowling combination.

Chennai will have blamed themselves for failing to cross the line in their encounter against Delhi yesterday and will be raring to go against Kolkata. As for McCullum and his boys, they would be really keen to put that demoralizing Super Over loss to Rajasthan behind and show a killer instinct henceforth. With Hayden and Gayle in rousing form, expect a fiery opening stand in either innings.

I also read an article in Cricinfo today, about how a curator at Kingsmead, Durban, was involved with ICL last year and prepared the pitch for today's match. I just hope that BCCI and ICC don't extend their antipathy to him. It would smack of unprecedented arrogance and unbelievable pomp.

Humdinger (or how I lost the battle but won the war)

Thursday was election day in Karnataka. Well, not in all constituencies, but in 17 of the maximum 28. I voted sometime around noon, after having returned home from a ceremony of a close family friend. A heavy lunch lulled me into a steady slumber, broken only by another invitation. This time, from a friend who wanted to go shopping for his bro's wedding, due next week. 

So, I proceeded to his house around 4:15 PM, by which time, the match between Delhi and Chennai was already underway. I was a bit stunned to discover Delhi's rampaging opening pair Sehwag and Gambhir had fallen cheaply, though, Dilshan and de Villiers were slowly and surely going about the repair job. AB unleashed the pyrotechnics to become the first centurion of IPL 2009 and in the process, made Freddie Flintoff look like a league bowler (4-0-50-0 is rather flat, even for a domestic player). While it may be worth gushing over his fine technique of masterly destruction (as per this article), I don't think it as a real revelation. For one, AB has been in fine form, starting from the time he scored that priceless 106 not out in Perth last December, helping South Africa to a stunning victory. Secondly, Dhoni's bowling selections seemed a bit erratic, preferring the quicker Flintoff when a recourse to a slower option would have been more sensible, given the effectiveness provided by spinners and slow medium-pacers in this edition. 

In any case, Chennai tore off the blocks in their reply and the match appeared to be heading towards them, with Hayden reeling one booming hit after another. After he fell for an uncharacteristic loose shot, I thought Delhi regrouped themselves exceedingly well and held their nerves in a very tight finish. Despite the early scare for their bowlers, Delhi will feel mighty proud of this performance, as their middle order was tested for the first time (and came out with flying colors) and they demonstrated enough steel behind the silk to prevail.

I didn't see the second match completely as I had to run for shopping with my friends. But, when I returned home close to midnight, I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't over yet. Ganguly and Agarkar were batting, KKR had 5 to get in as many balls, and Ganguly had looked to sewn it in the bag when he took two of a jab towards short midwicket to leave KKR with an easy target of 2-in-2 deliveries. I was therefore taken aback when he tried to go for that wild hoick over covers only to edge behind, when common sense would have told to go for a quick tap-and-run to tie the match. And the drama only increased when KKR contrived to indeed tie the match, thus enforcing a result through the Super Over.

Now, as far as I could understand, this is how the result is decided through a Super Over:

1. Each team will nominate one bowler and three batsmen for the Super Over stage. Each team will have an inning lasting only one over. 
   
2. The team which batted second in the regulation time will bat first in the Super Over stage. 
   
3. The Super Over team is akin to a mini-knockout round, where the team batting first in this stage will try to score maximum possible runs in 6 legal deliveries and set a target for the team batting second. 
   
4. If the team batting first manages to get the team batting second within the target, then team batting first wins. If the team batting second overhauls the target, then the team batting second wins. 
   

Yusuf ensured that there would be no more hiccups to Rajasthan and smote Mendis to long-off, deep midwicket and backward square leg to bag the match for them. Truly, a fine comeback and yet another instance of the team batting second failing to win the match.

Despite all this, I don't quite understand the overbearing need to find a winner in the event of a tie. If I recall, some years ago, there was this rule that in the event of a tie in a proper ODI (lasting 50 overs), the team that lost fewer wickets in posting the total would be the winning team. This made good sense, as it not only showed up the relative batting strength of the winning team, but also the relative bowling strength as well. Why we can't implement this rule for T20, is beyond my comprehension.

And now, a short preview for Friday's match between Bangalore and Punjab. Both teams are clearly struggling, with Punjab yet to get off the mark, the only team in the competition with that "honor". Bangalore's batting problems are obvious, and as Punjab's bowling is limp with the absences of Sreesanth, Brett Lee and James Hopes, a possible batting powerhouse performance from Bangalore should not be taken too seriously. Punjab would look at batting first (despite having lost both their opening matches doing that) and look to set a strong total to put Bangalore's misfiring batters under pressure. Bangalore, on the other hand, would do well to heed their captain's advice: exploit the fielding restrictions more in the first 6 overs. 

Win the toss, win the match?

Considering Deccan Chargers comprehensive thrashing of KKR in their first match and Royal Challengers' rude awakening at the hands of Chennai SK, Wednesday's battle between these 2 chumps of IPL 2008 was eagerly awaited. And when Gilly won the toss and decided to bat, I thought, well, ok, let's see how RCB chase.

All that optimism went up in smoke as Chargers rocketed to 27/0 in 2 wayward overs of Praveen Kumar and Dale Steyn. I mean, it's understandable that you're bowling to one of the most lethal opening batting pairs in world cricket: Gilly and Gibbs. I could also accept the fact that the ball wasn't swinging as it does after lights come on. But, to give away 27 in just 2 overs? C'mon, are we really that bad?

DC motored along nicely and with some smoking hitting from Rohit Sharma (who annoyingly fails to convert his IPL form to ODI arena) ended up with 184/6. Reasonably achievable, I thought. Show some fireworks initially, get to around 45-50 at the 5 over mark and take it from there, which will set the stage for Rahul Dravid to play his natural game and with/without rain interruptions, win the match.

And what do RCB manage? A wicket off the first ball, with Ryder falling to one wicked in-swinger from Fidel Edwards. Despite taking 10 more runs from that over, the writing was on the wall: the ball was swinging wildly and with RP Singh in his characteristic tight element, KP and Uthappa were crawling when they should have been creaming. The runs dried up, the catches stayed to DC's fielders hands (Ravi Teja's off Uthappa was particularly brilliant) and though Dravid and Kohli threatened with their late heroics, the damage was too heavy to be undone.

So where do we go from here? 3 played, won 1 and lost 2. Not that bad, if you consider 5th position with a marginally improved net run-rate and the prospect of facing the Kings XI Punjab on Friday, who have lost 2 in 2 (albeit both in rain-affected matches). Certain things need to be looked at closely, however.

1. Batting order - This is plainly not working. The starts have been non-existent and the middle-order is left having too much to do. The temptation may be to push Dravid to open but that will worsen the balance even more. If KP believes he's the man for the job, then he needs to open the innings with Kallis (get more match practice batting), with Ryder at 3 and Uthappa at 4. Dravid at 5 and Kohli at 6 should remain where they are. And please send Ross Taylor home. He just doesn't look interested in this edition.

2. Bowling options - Praveen Kumar looks dangerous when conditions are good but is a liability when faced with potent opening batting combinations. The bigger disappointment has been Steyn. Maybe, the long summer of battles with Australia is taking a toll on him. Kumble was magnificent against the Royals but went for runs against both CSK and DC. Kallis the bowler is a pale shadow of his former self and Ryder seems to be the only safe bet in the bowling line up. Clearly, a challenge for KP and Ray Jennings to mull over. My 2 cents: open with Praveen and Steyn for one over each, rotate between Ryder, Kumble and KP himself, with periodic bursts from Kallis/Kohli. Keep the batsman guessing and above all, take the pace off the ball when bowling first.

3. Toss luck - Now, this is not in anybody's hands, but given the fact that the only match lasting 20 overs-a-side which has been won by the team batting second was the one between DC and KKR, winning the toss is (for now) is sharing a direct relationship with batting first and winning the match. Both of Kings XI's matches were hit by rain and devastating opening batting from Sehwag and Gayle, so it would make more sense to win the toss and chase if and only if there is a good possibility of rain affecting the match. Else, its the same old adage that works well in Test Cricket: win the toss, bat well and put the opposition under pressure by bowling well. Exactly what DC did today.

4. Winning habit - As the matches come thick and fast, momentum is critical to build confidence ahead of important games. These games could be those which can decide table positions in the matter of hours. Thus, it's important to make winning a habit, because, it makes you feel confident in situations which you have overcome before. Conversely, you're more likely to let pressure get you (despite these players having international experience) when you have succumbed to it in a previous game.

More to come on IPL. I take back my previous hatred of it :)