The Thriller Day

Nine days have passed since the start of the IPL and I haven’t seen a more exciting day. Yes, there was a Pathan inning, there was a Sachin show and a Kallis led run chase in Bangalore, but there hasn’t been a day where both matches have been this exiting. We had a double header today and both the matches were thrilling (which I think is an understatement). This was a day where the momentum swung between both the teams like a pendulum. For a moment you would pick a team and the other would come and put its own claim for the two points at stake.
The first game was between the Delhi Daredevils and the Deccan Chargers at Cuttack (surrogate home ground for Deccan). Deccan batted first and put up 171. It was good to see Rohit Sharma back in form. He was striking the ball well and his six of Henriques is a shot I will remember for a long time. He was down on one knee and he swept the ball over square leg for maximum (should I say DLF maximum). Suman did well to get quick runs and Symonds was fantastic as usual. Both he and Gibbs got off to a start but did not get the big score. It was important for them to get the singles and hit the occasional boundary which they did very well. Gibbs was particularly good against Nannes. He did not let Delhi’s best bowler settle and went after him from ball 1. Getting in Monish Mishra didn’t work today but I think he should be given a run in the side, who knows like Suman last season he may be the discovery for the Chargers this time around. Delhi started well with Warner who found his touch in this game. It was exciting to watch him against R.P Singh as he went after everything bowled to him but I think Delhi were stuttered when they lost Virender Sehwag. Sehwag has been in good touch for them this season and it was a good ploy by Adam Gilchrist to get the spinner into the attack. De Villiers looked in good touch but I think he was a touch slow and did not push on after he got the boundaries early on. Once he and Warner were dismissed it was left on Dinesh Karthik to steer Delhi home. Karthik was simply brilliant. When he went after Rahul Sharma, I thought a few more boundaries from his blade and “Game Delhi” but when Andrew Symonds took that stunning return catch the game just turned. That catch was actually a “Karbonn Kamal Katch” and he followed it next ball by taking Mishra’s wicket. Vaas bowled a brilliant last over and I think it was too much to expect from Yogesh Nagar to win the game for Delhi. He was playing his first game this season and too much to expect from the young fellow, he will learn from this experience and will do very well in the future. He is a good bowler and a fielder and batting is his main aspect, so I would rate him as a good prospect for the future. Symonds again was the man of the match and he ensured that its 2 in 2 for Deccan at their new “home” ground.
The second game which was played between the two “Kings” of the tournament was an absolute cracker. If ever one had to witness fortunes changing soon it was today. Kings XI Punjab came back from nowhere to pull off a thrilling win over the Chennai Super Kings at Chennai. Punjab batted first and Surprise Surprise Irfan Pathan was promoted to open the batting (by any chance, was Greg Chappell in their dressing room today). Pathan was batting well today on a wicket that was tough to bat on. Punjab struggled to reach 136 with Yuvraj Singh striking form on the way. I think they should have stuck to their batting order and let Bisla open. Bisla showed his talent in the game against Bangalore and I think the role changing may have affected his ability at the crease today a little bit. When Chennai came on to bat it looked like it would be a walk in the park for them. They looked to be cruising even when Parthiv Patel got out. A run a ball from there on looked simple but Chennai didn’t have Kemp today. The Punjab bowlers did really well today Theron and Chawla in particular. Theron had a fantastic IPL debut. This caps a good week for him as he was picked in the South Africa World T20 squad. When Morkel edged the first ball of the last over it looked like Chennai’s game but Irfan Pathan did very well to keep the last two balls to dots and then we were on to the Super Over. Hayden walked out to bat with the mongoose which I thought want the right thing as the pitch was tricky and the fast bowler was on and he had his furniture disturbed first ball. Raina hit his trademark six over long on and perished the ball later trying the same. When Punjab walked in 10 runs looked like a target in between. Jayawerdena hit the first ball from Murali for six and at that point it really looked Punjab’s game but then next ball he holed out. When Yuvraj reverse swept it was celebration time in the Punjab camp. Their first win which was achieved after a lot of hard work. This sort of a win can do wonders for a team and Punjab might just find their momentum for this tournament. As for Chennai they don’t have to worry but just wait for Dhoni to be back. I think they had a bad decision today when Vijay was give LBW but I also think Parthiv Patel could have been a little more faster. He played well but a little faster would have done the job for Chennai. Nevertheless a great day today and I hope we see more days like this in the Season.
The next game is between Mumbai and Kolkata at Mumbai. Mumbai will look to get a win after a loss to Bangalore and Kolkata want to get back to winning again. The match starts 8. Until then, C ya.