Cricket Tournaments

West Indies’ impressive performance against India would have given their fans hope to seeing their team in the final four. Alas, it turned out to be a mirage as the home team were back to their incongruous ways against the mighty Australians.

Not only did they succumb to a heavy six-wicket defeat, but also crushed their chances of make it to the semi-finals after Lanka beat India by five-wickets. West Indies’ hero in the last game, skipper Chris Gayle, could not get it right against their old rivals and his failure led to West Indies’ magnanimous collapse.

They crumbed to 105 all out, a target which was effortlessly achieved by the Aussies inside 17 overs.

The win means they go into the semi-finals against Pakistan on Friday with a clean slate, and their chances of capturing the elusive T20 crown look rather bright from hereon.

Australia did not have to do much to qualify for the semis. Even a narrow defeat would have not hindered their progress. But, as is the Aussie culture, they were keen to finish the Super Eights on a high.

Thus, David Warner blasted 25 in 12 balls with the assistance of four boundaries and a huge six over to get the Aussies off to an incredible start even while chasing a miniscule total.

Warner’s dismissal was soon followed by Shane Watson’s, who dragged one from Sulieman Benn onto his stumps. But, there wasn’t much joy for West Indies thereafter.

Brad Haddin crafted a mature 46-ball 42 to grind out the Windies. Haddin departed just prior to the target being achieved, the match eventually ended in an inauspicious manner with skipper Gayle bowling five wides.

Haddin apart, Australia captain Michael Clarke chipped in with 16 from 24 balls before being disappointingly run-out. But, David Hussey registered a calm 10 not out to see the Aussies past the finishing line.

For West Indies, it was the story of one man’s failure resulting in the collapse of the whole team. And that one man was Gayle himself, who dragged a lethal Dirk Nannes delivery onto his stumps.

The rest followed suit as if they were just there to fill in the places. Praise though needs to be reserved for Australia’s potent bowling attack too who never allowed the Windies batsmen to settle.

The home team faltered to 60 for 5 at the halfway stage of their innings and needed something special from Kieron Pollard to post a decent target. That wasn’t to be though.

After Mitchell Johnson did the early damage, removing Shivnarine Chanderpaul for 24, leg spinner Steven Smith took over and crushed West Indies’ chances even further.

He sent back Pollard and Darren Sammy off successive deliveries. And, though he failed to get the hat-trick, his three-wicket effort was enough put Australia on the victory path. For the batting side only Ramnaresh Sarwan put up a fight, collecting 26 from 32 balls.

Unfortunately, there was no support at all from the other end. A 20-run stand between Nikita Miller and Benn enabled West Indies to cross 100. But, by then, irreparable damage had already been done and Australia merely finished off the formalities with the bat.

David Warner scored a glorious 107 not out and was well supported by Paul Collingwood (53) to raise Delhi Daredevils to 177/4 at the Feroz Shah Kotla against Kolkata Knight Riders, a good enough score to pin Kolkata down.

This was after they lost three big wickets in the first three overs of the game post winning the toss and electing to bat on a pitch that had little for the pacers, but sharp turn for the spinners. In reply, the Delhi bowlers kept the pressure on the Knight Riders right from the start and eased to a 40-run win.

The match though belonged to Warner. The comparatively tough batting conditions meant his knock was all the more special. There was plenty of pressure on the left-handed bat after Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Dinesh Karthik all fell cheaply. But, Warner responded by taking on the bowlers and muscled them all over the park.

Taking a cue from Shane Warne and Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly had opened the bowling with the spin of Chris Gayle. And, while Sehwag slammed him to the fence on a couple of occasions, the West Indian was smart enough to drag him out of the crease a third time and have him stumped.

At the other end, Charl Langeveldt trapped Gambhir in front — a marginal decision, but certainly one that had Delhi on the backfoot very soon. Karthik was well deceived by a slower ball from a struggling Ishant Sharma and fell for a first-ball duck. At 38 for 3 in the third over, Delhi were in great strife, the only positive being that they were scoring at a phenomenal pace thanks to Warner.

What Delhi needed was for someone to support Warner. And, as luck would have it, they had Collingwood, a perfect fit for the situation. While Warner took on all the bowlers with ease, Collingwood made sure he gave the Australian a majority of the strike, manoeuvring the ball in the gaps.

Even while going after most of the bowlers, Warner batted with common sense and treated the spinners with respect, on a pitch that demanded it. The beauty of the Warner-Collingwood partnership was that they never allowed the run-rate of plummet. When Warner was approaching his century, Collingwood took over the mantle of boundary-hitting and raced to his half-century – chipping down the pith and dragging the ball to the on side boundary proved to be his most effective stroke.

It eventually needed a spectacular catch by David Hussey, nudging the ball over the ropes, but managing to keep it in the field of play and eventually pulling off the unthinkable.

Kolkata’s batting effort was not half as good. They lost Ganguly early, the left-hander exposing his stumps and being cleaned up by Dirk Nannes. The inexperienced Mandeep Singh felt the pressure and succumbed, going for an almighty swing against Amit Mishra, only to find the ball turning the other way.

The wicket then played its part in Kolkata’s downfall. Last match hero Manoj Tiwary’s stumps were castled by a straight delivery from Andrew McDonald. The problem was that the ball did not rise above knee-high.

Gayle was the only man looking comfortable, playing in his typical brawny style. And, he was lucky too as a mistimed sweep was dropped by Sehwag when he was on 24. Despite the respite, the loss of three cheap wickets meant that Kolkata needed Gayle and Hussey to replicate the efforts of Warner and Collingwood respectively.

On a slow wicket though, the medium pace of Rajat Bhatia was enough see him drag one into the outfield for 30 and Umesh Yadav took care of Hussey for an uncharacteristic 29. Clearly, Kolkata were outplayed.

The script could not have been written for Delhi Daredevils as they looked to end their somewhat surprising losing streak against the rampaging Bangalore Royal Challengers at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Apart from the losing the toss, almost everything went right for them.

A sensational start provided by David Warner, a good consolidating knock by A B de Villiers in the middle and an unbelievably brilliant half-century by a little known Kedar Jadhav, who incidentally was with RCB last year, made sure that Delhi ended up with a highly impressive 183 for 4.

Then, despite another good start provided by Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey, Delhi managed to stage a comeback courtesy Amit Mishra and Andrew McDonald and some atrocious running by the Bangalore batsmen.

Delhi had their noses in front right from the start. Warner went hammer and tongs from ball one and Delhi ended up crossing 50 in just over four overs. The Australian hammered 33 from 14 balls, inclusive of three fours and two sixes, and even Virender Sehwag looked sedate in comparison.

Post Warner’s dismissal, Bangalore did fight back, dismissing Sehwag and skipper Dinesh Karthik before they crossed 100. However, a smart partnership between de Villiers and Jadhav made sure that Delhi were in the hunt to post a challenging score. And after the South African was run out, five short of a deserved half-century, Jadhav took over and played an astounding knock.

His half-century came off a mere 29 balls and featured five fours and two sixes. None of the bowlers could make any impact on him as he slammed a couple of memorable boundaries off Kallis and opposition skipper Anil Kumble.

For Bangalore to overhaul the 183 set by Delhi, they needed another great start from Pandey and Kallis. And, while they did add 71, the fact that Delhi bowlers did not allow them to run away with the game, proved crucial in the end. Dirk Nannes kept things tight as usual and his bowling partner Umesh Yadav proved to be a surprise package.

The speed with which he bowled unsettled both Pandey and Kallis and different times. Still, Bangalore managed to reach a steady position before the cookie crumbled.

Kallis, after reaching a sedate 29-ball 27, fell trying to open his arms. An attempted slog sweep was missed and Amit Mishra had struck once again for Delhi. That was the beginning of the end for Bangalore. The chase deteriorated rather rapidly thereafter. Yet again, Pandey fell in the 30s.

On a day when Kallis failed, he should have gone on to do much better. Some dreadful running by Bangalore did not help matters either. Rahul Dravid lasted just one ball and Eoin Morgan could not prove his big-hitting prowess.

The lower half of the batting collapsed in a heap. If Bangalore lost by a somewhat respectable margin of 17 runs, it was only due to some good hitting by Virat Kohli (38*) towards the end.

All said and done, Delhi were the better of the teams on the day and deserved to win.

The much talked about Mongoose bat made a stinging impact at the Ferozshah Kotla, as Matthew Hayden used it to devastating effect against the Delhi Daredevils. Being set a highly competitive 186, courtesy yet another special effort by Virender Sehwag (74), the Chennai Super Kings got home with little trouble as Haydos used the long handle to great effect in true sense of the word. Stand-in skipper Suresh Raina contributed a crucial, unbeaten 49 to see the side home. But, it was undoubtedly the big-hitting Hayden’s knock of 93 that made the major difference.

The Australian’s splendid innings came off just 43 balls and was punctuated with nine fours and featured an almost unbelievable seven sixes. All the bowlers came in for massive punishment at the hands of Hayden except the ever-dependable Dirk Nannes, who ended with figures of 1/18 from his quota of four overs. From among the rest, Umesh Yadav was spanked for 38, Pradeep Sangwan for 46 and Rajat Bhatia went for as many as 31 from his two overs.

Even when stand-in skipper Dinesh Karthik turned to spin, things didn’t get any better. Hayden launched both Amit Mishra and Tillakaratne Dilshan regularly over the top. And, when he was finally dismissed for 93, captain Raina took over. With no pressure of scoring quickly, he and Murali Vijay, who played a couple of significant lofted shots after the big hitters like Albie Morkel and Justin Kemp fell cheaply, easily guided Chennai to victory.

While both teams missed their regular captains, it was Delhi who had to pay heavily for the loss of Gautam Gambhir. In his absence, only Virender Sehwag could make a noteworthy impact. Though Mithun Manhas (32) and Rajat Bhatia (21 not out) did their best towards the end of the innings, the failure of their middle-order haunted the Daredevils. Also, they seem to be desperately missing the services of the experienced Ashish Nehra.

Without him, Nannes has had to fight a lone battle with the ball in hand. In contrast, Hayden and Raina ensured that they more than made up for MS Dhoni’s absence, at least for this game. And, they would like to continue in the same vein until the skipper is totally fit to take the field.

For Delhi, they would like to see marked improvements in their fielding as well, apart from their bowling. The home side for the match missed a number of run out opportunities and even dropped a couple of catches, which did cost them. Had they hung on to some, who knows the result could have been different or at least the game would have been a lot more competitive in the second half, when Hayden was literally decimating the bowling.

Also, they would like see better performances from the likes of David Warner and, in particular, Dilshan whose lack of form has been hurting them big time. A few runs from stand-in captain Karthik would also help. It is still early days in the tournament, but two indifferent performances in consecutive games doesn’t augur well for the Daredevils.

In the last edition of the IPL review, we take a look at the top 3 teams of the IPL last season and what are their chances of repeating their stupendous performances this year.

1) Delhi Daredevils
Without doubt, one of the best T-20 teams on paper as well as performance. Delhi Daredevils will make any one sweat with jealousy as not many sides are lucky to have world class T-20 players such as the Delhi opening duo of Virender Sehwag and captain Gautam Gambhir, Australia’s exciting talent David Warner, Moises Henriques, the Australian all-rounder who was bought from the Kolkata Knight Riders outside auction this season, AB de Villiers, South Africa’s most reliable batsman and an excellent fielder in the 30-yard circle.

And yes, who will forget the revolutionary Sri Lankan batsman who by far is the best player of 2009 in the eyes of many. The man who invented the new shot over the wicketkeepers head. He is none other than Sri Lanka’s Tillakratne Dilshan.

All the above players have a certain amount of experience in international cricket. However, the young players too are really a talented lot. Dinesh Karthik is still in the infant stages of developing himself in the Indian team, yet the wicket-keeper batsman is known to be a good finisher.

He proved his worth in tough conditions in South Africa. The Delhi lads Rajat Bhatia, Amit Mishra, the leg-spinner who has made a name for himself in the Indian Test team, Ashish Nehra who is experienced but has lost out on a lot of cricket due to injuries but can be a good partner to Dirk Nannes when it comes to opening the bowling. If Dilshan has taken the world by storm thanks to his batting, Nannes has done the same with bowling. He is the perfect replacement for Glenn McGrath, whose contract has been bought out this season. Pradeep Sangwan and Avishkar Salvi add to the bowling depth of the team further.

However, the question is whether Owais Shah and Manoj Tiwary deserve to be removed from the Delhi roster and sold to Kolkata, when Delhi need a good bench strength in batting. Will McGrath’s buy-out cost Delhi? Will Gambhir’s captaincy inspire Delhi in the long-run, which didn’t do the team any good in the Champions League 2009? Well, time will tell.

2) Royal Challengers Bangalore
The team owned by Vijay Mallya flopped in the first season by finishing second-last. However, events took a u-turn and luck started going their way and they finished second in the tournament! Bangalore won many fans in South Africa, but they are back in India. Will pressure take a toll on the team?

Well, not really when it’s known that Anil Kumble is the skipper of the team. He is a true fighter as it is known how he won consecutive matches last season as the then new skipper of the team when Kevin Pietersen had to leave half-way from the tournament and left Bangalore in disarray as he was out of form too with the bat. They have vast experience in players such as Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher, the two South African stalwarts.

Bangalore perhaps has one of the best pool of young players amongst all the 8 teams. Manish Pandey was the find of Indian cricket last season, Robin Uthappa is a true match winner, Virat Kohli who is India’s new prodigy with the bat and on the field, R Vinay Kumar is a potential talent, A Mithun could make his debut for the team after a good domestic season, Eoin Morgan, England’s future who was picked in the auction and Ashok Menaria, the Indian U-19 captain.

However, Bangalore’s chances look grim due to injuries sustained by Kiwi players such as Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder. With no Kevin Pietersen available, Bangalore chances take a dip in the pool as it remains to be seen whether their performance last year was a fluke.

3) Deccan Chargers
They were the champions of the IPL last season. Who would write them off this time? The team gave a fitting reply to its critics who said that they don’t deserve to play in the tournament when they finished at the bottom in the first season. But an inspirational comeback was so good for cricket that it showed that the IPL is here to stay due to its excellent quality of cricket.

Unlike Bangalore, Deccan is even more strengthened despite the fact that the Hyderabad franchisee was knocked out in the first round of the Champions League 2009 in India. And a humiliatng fact is that they haven’t won a single match at home.

The fact that Adam Gilchrist is like an all-rounder who is captain, wicketkeeper and opens the batting is not just motivating, but also it leaves Deccan with several choices in the team composition, especially when it comes to the middle order. Herschelle Gibbs was missed in the Champions League and his presence this time will boost the team.

VVS Laxman is a crowd favourite in any part of India and his batting is a treat to watch even if it is a T-20 tournament. With Rohit Sharma, Andrew Symonds, Scott Styris and the young brigade of RP Singh, the highest wicket-taker last season, Ryan Harris, Pragyan Ojha as well as T Suman can perform in India too.

Can’t we fancy Deccan as champions again? Well, we could.
Thus the IPL promises to be a thriller and even better than the first two seasons as more players means more excitement and better quality of cricket, which is important.