It will be the Rajasthan Royals taking on the Delhi DareDevils and Kings XI Punjab against the Chennai SuperKings in the Indian Premier League 2008 Semi-Finals.
Two classic clashes which hold promise for enough drama, action and fireworks plus exciting cricket to entertain the millions of 20Twenty Cricket lovers worldwide.
All the four Semi-finals spots have now been decided with Deccan once again losing a game in front of their home crowd to Chennai Super Kings and their home jinx continued to haunt them this evening too. They didn’t put enough runs on the board and it was always going to be tough for their under par bowling department to pull off something special. Chennai didn’t get off to the best of starts but Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni stayed there for quite sometime and steered their side to a rather comfortable victory.
The slim chance which Mumbai Indians had disappeared today with Chennai’s win. Basically Mumbai colud not hold on to their nerves in the last three matches - otherwise there was enough promise for them to reach the semi finals. And also Virender Sehwag will definitely sleep well tonight after a week of wait and watch other teams slog it out to decide their fate in the semis.
Knight Riders made a mark before ending their DLF IPL stint for this year. Ganguly and Gul’s combined firepower managed to stop the winning streak of Kings XI Punjab at Eden Gardens , Kolkata.
An exceptional thrilling game with both sides playing for different objectives. Kings XI Punjab with already their berth secured for the semi-finals played the game with an aim to dislodge Rajasthan Royals from the top slot and also to reinforce the overwhelming confidence. While the Knight Riders played the game to make a statement and regain their professional pride much of which was lost during the tournament with losses and a dismal batting performance.
Ganguly scored a superb knock of 86 out of 53 balls with six boundaries and equal no of over boundaries.While Umar Gul scored 24 out of 11 balls with one four and three sixes to make a record total in this field. Umar Gul also bagged the Man of the Match award for taking 4 wickets for 23 runs.
Earlier Yuvraj won the toss and decided to bat and summed up a total of 174 for 9 - which was good enough given the slow pitch. However Gul restricted the last over with two wickets and kept a check on the total also.
Kolkata seemed to be out of the game with almost 15 runs per over required in the last 5 overs. That was before Ganguly and Gul got together, putting on 49 runs in 18 balls. With 15 required off the last over, Ganguly was equal to the task, wrapping up the match with 2 balls to spare, reminiscent of how Warne did it for his team against the Deccan Chargers. Overall a great match where the game turned with every over during the end.
Shah Rukh has sent a SMS to his team saying that he would boycott the remaining matches of the IPL till the League clarified the code of conduct and cricketing authorities.
King Khan cannot digest the fact that ICC anti-corruption department has objected his proximity to his own players. He said that he finds it really ridiculous that he would pay his players to loose when he have already paid so heavily for building a team for winning ! His main objection is to the fact that this action somewhat labels him as a bookie.
He also pointed out to the fact that while other owners are being allowed to mix freely with their team members - he has been singled out just due to his celebrity status. Earlier he had also expressed his unhappiness about the entertainment tax levied on his team by the West Bengal Government which is not applicable in any other states.
Meanwhile IPL governing body went out of its way to bend rules and issue special red passes to team owners allowing then fifteen minutes access to dressing rooms and dugout.
Perhaps what everyone is missing out the fact which probably raised concern among the icc anti-corruption is King Khans visit to the opponents teams (Chennai Superkings) dug out during the Kolkata match. This may not have been taken well by the ICC authorities and rightly so - Cricket does not follow the rules of Bollywood where everything can be scripted conveniently.
Also, the dismal performance of Kolkata Knight Riders must be adding fuel to King Khans frustration - but rules are rules - Cricket is a game of discipline and performance - emotions do not have much place here.
True we will loose out on the cheering performance of King Khan in the semis and the finals - but Virender Shewag, Gambhir, Sachin, Shaun Marsh, Yuvraj, MS Dhoni, Jayasiriya are no less real-life entertainers.
Delhi need to win this match to keep their semifinal chances alive. Kolkata would like to knock Delhi out of contention as Rajasthan did to them.
Men at the Helm
Ganguly has been a good leader but doesn’t seem to have come to terms with the nuances of this short format. Sehwag on the other has been instinctive, innovative and fairly impressive.
We have the bat
Delhi look a better batting side than Kolkata but a few quick wickets could expose the out of form middle order. Kolkata need one of Ganguly and Hussey to fire if they are to get to a respectable score. They need to make Hafeez sit out and play both Pakistani bowlers if fitness allows. Then they can open with Salman Butt and Debabrata Das or Saurav Ganguly.
We have the ball
Both are extremely efficient bowling units. McGrath has been impeccable through out. Maharoof and Yo Mahesh have been amongst wickets. Delhi need to play atleast one front line spinner in Amit Mishra whatever the conditions are and drop Rajat Bhatia who doesn’t seem to be coming any good with the bat. Kolkata must look at playing both Shoaib and Gul in the team.
Patrolling Party
Delhi are the best fielding unit in the competition. Everybody’s is almost tired now, saying that again again. They seem to stop everything, hold all catches and take all half chances. Kolkata are not that great a fielding site but they will look to give an inspired effort like they did in a couple of matches. Just watch Taibu field, admire his dedication and adore his commitment. Cricketers from smaller countries don’t hog the limelight, as was the case with Andy Flower. Watch closely, Taibu seems to be the best fielder in the world at the moment.
High on betting meter
Delhi are high on betting meter with returns of around 50 percent while a bet on Kolkata gives 125 percent additional to the bet.
Who gets the tick?
Rain Gods have been having a say at Delhi so this match could well be decided by the toss of the coin. Team winning the toss will like to bowl first. Should it be a full match, Delhi must cruise through.
It’s just an interesting observation. There is fair chance that four teams behind Rajasthan Royals might all be stuck on 16 points after the end of the league round of the Indian premier league.
There is a pretty decent possibility of this happening. Just have a look at how the things could roll and lead to such a situation.
Delhi Daredevils have 12 points with 2 matches remaining. One is against Mumbai and the other against Kolkata. They have a pretty good chance of winning against Kolkata and if one of Sehwag and Gambhir plays a big innings and the bowlers bowl according to reputation they can beat Mumbai too. This will get them on 16 points at the end of the league.
Chennai have 14 points with 3 of their matches remaining against Bangalore, Rajasthan and Deccan. Rajasthan are a strong side and Deccan beat Chennai pretty convincingly in the last match between these two. If Chennai wins 1 of their remaining matches they would be on 16 points as well.
Mumbai are on 12 points with 4 matches remaining against Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan and Bangalore. As we said earlier, Delhi must defeat Mumbai and Rajasthan are well capable of doing that as well. Mumbai are too good a team to loose too many matches and thus they could win against Punjab and Bangalore, giving them 16 points too.
Now this is the toughest part. Punjab have 14 points with 4 games to play. They will play against Mumbai, Deccan, Kolkata and Rajasthan. As we said, Mumbai have to defeat them and Rajasthan can beat them too. Deccan is a very good team. Although too late, but they seem to be coming into rhythm and would definitely like to prove a point. So if Punjab manage to beat only one of the four teams they are to play they are to going to finish on 16 points.
Now it is very difficult to predict which teams will get through on the basis of net run rate. But taking into account the results of the matches that these teams played with those who they are to play, a prediction can be made.
Unless there is a huge victory for any of the teams Chennai are the most likely to go out because they have very poor net run rate and loosing 2 of their remaining 3 matches wouldn’t help either.
Still, the margins of victories will have a huge bearing on the outcome and Bangalore and Deccan could turn out King makers and dream breakers in the scenario.
