Alex's . . .

About 500 meters(approx.) run...*a huge sigh*!!followed by hugs!!Guess who??P.Zinda! :) No she is not shooting for another romance scene in a movie!!This is not fake!!This is happening in real life...Her team has just defended 119 runs succesfully against Mumbai!!What a treat for Punjab fans...No wonder Priety, watching the game from the stands ran all the way to hug the players!! What a game!a low scoring thriller!Only Sangakara(for Punjab) ad Duminy (for Mumbai) got himself in on a dual paced pitch which assisted spinners!Sangakara made a run a ball 44 as they posted 119 off 20 overs!In reply Duminy carried the Mumbai innings together and almost won it for them with a big hit in the last over but was caught near the boundary off Y.Abdulla(at deep mid wicket)!Mumbai lost by 3 runs!yet another impressive performance by (local boy)Y.Abdulla! Earlier in the day BRC and KKR played out another close match!KKR got off to a decent start(45 off 6 overs) but once Hodge departed they lost mo

Just like a typical (90s) bollywood movie where the hero makes an late but in time (right time) appearence on screen to save the heroin/kill the villian, Yusuf came in as the game was getting away from Rajastan and played his typical (big hitting) innings to help RR chase down 144 in just over 18 overs. Earlier Sehwag choosing to bat after winning the toss (yet again) got out without making a huge impact and at one stage they were struggling at 49/4 in 8th over but (in form) De villers,vettori stitched a good partnership and a late cameo by Manhas help them set 144. RR's top order has been fragile through out the tournament and it failed yet again except for a sensible Smith who hung in there despite wickets falling at the other end till Yusuf came in (late) and stole the show!Yusuf made a dashing 62 off 30 while Smith made (almost) a run a ball 44 as they reached the target in 18.3 overs! RR bt DD by 5 wickets!

CSK Vs DC With the equation at 8 runs needed off 6 balls,game looked set for an interesting finish but it was (almost) game over as Gibbs cleared the next ball to the fence..Its funny how quickly a game change,but Deccan seems to be the team to beat! Both Chennai n Deccan's innings kind of went very similar with both teams getting off to flier and then wickets in the middle overs(off slow bowlers) pegged them back before ending with late surge and in the end the difference was the fluent innings from Gibbs(69 notout) who ensured that runs were coming at one end (carried his bat thro) while in Chennai's innings at one point (12th over)Dhoni n Hayden fell in space of 4 balls leaving 2 new batsman in the crease(Oram n Morkel) who took time to get going...thats where(i felt) Chennai lost momentum! MI Vs KKR The second match of the day saw Mumbai meet KKR!And what an entertaining innings from Sachin and Jayasuriya!Its always wonderful to watch when Sachin gets going and tonight whe

K.Goel watched the dreadful sight before he could get inside the crease...stumps getting dislodged at the non strikers end and he has to return to pavilion without even facing a ball!Ya,Rajastan couldnt have had a better start(a run out off the the first ball )and it got even worse(for Punjab) when Bopara,Yuvi n Mahela fell quickly to leave them tattering at 48/4 in 9th over!But Pathan and Sangakara kept them in the game with some good batting to set a target of 140. The 140 run target (though looks small) was going to be tricky as the pitch was kinda slow paced and showed signs of weariness.If the Punjab's start was worst then Royals start was a nightmare loosing all the top order(42 for 6) in the 9 th over before Jadeja n Warne got together.Sensible batting from both only saw them closing the victory gap as the win (kinda) looked inevitable!Punjab won by 27 runs and it was their bowlers turn this time to ensure victory! Earlier in the day a (desperate) Blore took on a(rampha

Clear skies welcomed King's XI in Durban for a change and thats not the first time in the day that things went according to their wish.Punjab,keeping wickets in hand never panicked while chasing down an challenging total of 169! After Pieterson chose to bat Uthapa fell early (without troubling the scorers) but Ryder and Kallis got them off to a flier but they were pegged back when Ryder and Pieterson fell quickly as they reach 71/3 off 10 overs.After the break Dravid(uncharacteristicaly) skied one from Chawla to mid on but a well made 62 by Kallis and 35 by Taylor propel them on to 169. Punjab started cautiously as they reached 50 in 6.1 overs.Soon after Goel fell but Bopara who got his eye in made it big scoring 84 while Sangakara n Yuvi played around him as they chased down 169.Once the required runrate reached 12 RPO(as they took it easy against Kumble w/o giving him any wicket) but Bopara n Yuvi stayed cool and put the bad balls away to score an easy win

Oh my gosh!!what a day of cricket....Ya we had the first tie in IPL. (unfortunately) I thought rain is going to ruin(yet again) the RR Vs KKR match after seeing the initial shower and prefered to watch a movie :(..Came back just in time to see the Super over where Yusuf was too good!I could not wait to see the highlights :) Earlier in the day we had another close match where two batting heavyweights (atleast on paper) Delhi and Chennai squared off...Delhi had the worst possible start loosing both their openers Gambhir ad Viru but Dilshan and AB Devillers sizzled on a belter of a pitch (hitting through the line and driving on the up) Devillers went on to make the first century in this edition of IPL.Dilshan made 50 as they set an imposing target of 190. If at all they(Chennai) have a chance to chase it down they knew they need a good start and they were off straight away flourishing to 57 off 5 overs when Patel fell to young Sangwan and things looked well in control @ 106/2 o

On day 5 it was the 2 teams who had a disappointing run in the last edition (but promising more in this edition already) Deccan and Blore.Deccans were off straight away in the top gear with Gibbs n Gillchrist(Gilli) to 46 in (little less than) 4 overs before Gibbs fell trapped before wicket playing across the line to P.Kumar.Though wickets fell on the one end a smashing 71 from Gilli and a classy 50 from Rohit helped Deccan reach 184.Deccan innings(Gilli's big hits,Rohit picking his spot....) was entertaining.. Blore innings never got off(as they would have liked) as they loose wickets at regular intervals to reach 62/4 in 10 Overs...Late surge from Dravid and V.Kohli helped them come close but they were never gonna chase it down afer that poor start...so thats it! Another win for Deccan puts them on the top of the league table..And now that almost all teams played 2 matches and has got atleast a point already(except Punjab) is a good sign (for a competitive league) from

One big difference in this edition (from the last which was kind of bang bang cricket..) that is very evident already is the even contest between bat n ball n even spinners play major role on these (traditionally) seamer friendly wickets and so it was,when Punjab's Kings XI(PK XI) took on Kolkatta's KR(KKR). After the initial cameo by Pathan it was left to Sangakara n Yuvraj(Yuvi) to consolidate...Just when they looked well set to accelarate Sangakara got run out and in the next over Yuvi miscued a pull shot to deep mid wicket and with late flourish from Jayawardene they posted 158 . The beauty of these sporting wickets is that even totals of 130s,120s can be defended and so the chase is always going to be tricky..But when Gayle got going all of a sudden even huge totals look small...They were 79/1 off 10 overs when rain stopped play(not for the first time) and they were ahead of their D/L target by 11 runs and were declared winners! I missed the Kolkatta's c

Today it was Chennai against Blore.Match starts off with an entertaining lightning knock by Hayden getting Chennai off to a flyer as they raced to 106 off 10 overs before the "stratergic timeout" (yet again) broke the momentum helping Blore to comeback with 2 wickets in 2 balls' .. This timeout(due to comercial factor) really seems unfair to the batsman bcoz they have to start all over again its very frustrating especially when u have the momentum with u like Chennai had today...With the business value of the game booming rapidly (like software industry once did) I wouldnt be surprised if i watch the final of the next edition of IPL in a multiplex near my house :) !If u r following the game long enough I dnt have to tell u that the game's potential(business end) has grown exponentially over the last few years reaching new heights never reached before attracting billionaires..and the trend continues with some new concepts like these...Especially this IPL seems to ha

I always felt that T20 is not a test of cricketing skills.It should be accepted for the entertainment factor and the money it brings to the game n (may be) take the game global..(into Europe,middle east...). After all who cares these days abt still head,footwork,body balance n all...all they love to see is balls sailing over the fence n stumps uprooted!Its funny (to think nw) one Day matches(60 overs) were thought to be unfair when it was introduced in early 70's to get a game within a day.. But its official now...Delhi scored 58 off 4.5 overs to register their first win against a(helpless) Punjab who has hardly done anything wrong but was outplayed so easily.ya (sadly) thats where the cricketing world is heading n u wud be left behind if u do not adapt....This (soccer style) franchise model tournament is a big hit n the money it brings is so over whelming that they had to go through with (so called) stratergic mid innings break even on a curtailed game of 12 overs... [feels

Yay...after all the controversies,talks,scheduling pblms,security concerns IPL II finally got underway under the overcast skies at newlands,capetown with the 2 old warhorses Sanath n sachin taking strike on a wet pitch against the tall seamer Gony!Ya, 't was Chennai Vs Mumbai.. The match was uneventful...with most strugling for timing n some not at their best(still rusty may be) and Mumbai (kind of) cruised to victory by 19 runs with Chennai never threatening to chase down 165 made by Mumbai. Second match was much more entertaining with Blore losing early wickets then recovering well (thro Dravid) to competitive 133 and then bundled out Rajas. for 58 with Kumble scalping 5 ...It was also nice to see some drifters,wily turners from Shane Warne again after long time..Its always a great sight to see spinners containing batsman...This is the first time in T20 that I have seen a chasing team been outplayed so comprehesively! Mumbai bt chennai by 19 runs Rajastan lost to blore by 7