Published: May 08, 2011, 12:54 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 22, 2014, 01:11 PM (IST)
By Suneer Chowdhary
Here are some key moments in the fourth week of the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) fourth edition.
Sourav Ganguly checks in
In the end, it turned out to be a damp squib because Ganguly was a non-starter in what could have been his first game. However, the news that he had finally signed on the dotted line with Pune would be great joy to his fans, if not for the flailing Warriors.
So does Ross Taylor… (with his hockey connection)
For a long time in the tournament, Shane Warne kept changing the batting order, with adverse results. Then, after losing three in a row, the wisdom to bat Shane Watson at the top and Ross Taylor at four or five seemed to have dawned upon the captain.
Taylor, who hadn’t had too much to do till before the game against the Pune Warriors, grabbed his chance with both hands. Coming to bat at 59 for three after 10 overs chasing 145, he slapped a 35-ball 47, which had a barrage of those favourite slog-sweeps shots.
Later, he revealed that playing hockey all those years as a kid seemed to have inspired him into playing that favourite shot of his.
…and Warne checks out
Warne also revealed that this will indeed be his last IPL. It remains to be seen whether he makes good his word or if it is another tactic to inspire his team into playing better.
Chennai’s middle-overs strangulation
Chennai played a couple of games at home, and in both the matches managed to allow their opposition a false sense of hope after the first half of the innings. In case of Deccan, the chase of 166 was definitely on when the side had reached 90 for one in 11 overs while batting first, Rajasthan got off to 86 without loss after ten.
The Chargers scored only 56 in their last nine, while Rajasthan got 61 in the last ten, allowing the Super Kings to run away with a win each.
Mumbai juggernaut rolls on…
It was all too familiar for the Mumbai Indians. After that blip against the Royals, they went back to their clinical way of destroying the opposition; wicket-preservation in the first half, bat-throwing in the second, Lasith Malinga bowling yorkers, Munaf Patel sending down off-cutters, Kieron Pollard fielding like a champion and Mumbai winning.
And for the effect, they even had Munaf diving around within the 30-yard circle to try and hold on to catches! Jonty Rhodes can now retire in peace.
The century – I
At 25 for three chasing 176, Delhi seemed doomed. Then, they dropped Virender Sehwag twice. And he made them pay – and how!
It was one of those wins that one always hopes against hope from one’s favourite team; a comeback from a terminal situation, a re-rerun of the NatWest final of 2001. Deccan had the game wrapped up; they just needed to put a card on it.
Instead, Sehwag tore the wrappings and smashed a 56-ball 119 to single-handedly guide the side to a win, playing the best innings of IPL4 so far.
The century – II
Only a week ago, Chris Gayle had announced himself to the West Indian Cricket Board, who had jettisoned him from the ODI side and the IPL owners who hadn’t earlier picked him, with a century that gave Kolkata no time to react. He minced no words in the post-match conference saying that he badly needed an IPL century.
Now, that he had got one, Gayle seemed to have smelt blood.
Against Punjab, batting first, he wanted to go after the bowling from the word go. The swinging ball allowed him no such liberties in the first three overs, but once the deviation reduced, Gayle connected everything.
There were nine sixes and 10 fours, and by the time he had got to his second century in the competition, the Kings XI Punjab had had no option but to shrug it off as one of those, “once in a lifetime”.
For the neutrals, they had relished two such “once in a lifetime” innings on successive days!
(Suneer is a Mumbai-based cricket writer and can be contacted at suneerchowdhary@gmail.com and Tweets here: @suneerchowdhary)
