Indian Premier League has taken everybody by storm. The amount of fresh talent that’s been exposed would lead people to believe that there may be many new faces in team India. But the fact of the matter is that, only 15 or 16 players can be selected in the team and the players who were already there and there about have performed really well. There might be just a few inclusions in the batting and in the spin bowling departments.
Looking at the eight teams and the Indian players who have been the best in each its interesting to find that they are already in the national team.
Indian Premier League Match Preview – Semi final 1
Rajasthan Royals Vs Delhi Daredevils
Semi final 1 is to be played between the teams which stood at the first and the fourth position in the league.
The Armies – Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils
Rajasthan Royals with 22 points stood at the top of the league winning 10 of their 14 matches and winning all 7 they played at their home ground, Jaipur.
Delhi Daredevils qualified by grabbing the fourth and the last spot. They were victorious in 7 matches while one was washed by rain. They ended on 15 points.
The Battleground – Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
The pitch here is the one that seems most likely to help the spin bowlers. The run scoring can be controlled in the middle overs if the spinners have a good day.
Knock out time
The stage is all set and the performers are raring to go. Its knock out time and the Daredevils have made the cut. This is a team, most would have liked to avoid in a knock out situation. But Shane Keith Warne would probably be the last man on earth to be thinking about it.
The spin wizard from Victoria leads his men, the pre-tournament underdogs as the favorites now to win the inaugural Indian Premier League.
Jab we met
When these teams first met in Delhi, it was the first match in the league for both. Delhi then, bowled out Rajasthan for a meager total of 109 and then got home pretty quickly.
In the next tie at Jaipur, Rajasthan managed to beat Delhi comfortably. The clash has adrenaline flowing high with Sehwag getting charged up in the field and Royals management lodging a complaint against him.
Leading from the front
Both Viru and Warny have led by example. Both have had a good tournament personally and that’s been a reason why things have sailed smoothly for them.
The clash between these two too promises to be a high voltage affair. Watch out for a run out that is not referred to the third umpire.
Left Right Right
Left-Right seems to be right for both the sides. With southpaws Smith and Gambhir opening the innings with Asnodkar and Sehwag respectively there is lot for bowlers to work out. Smith and Asnodkar have been rotating the strike with consistency and this has given many a bowlers some headache. Gambhir is very swift between the wickets and Sehwag more often than not has responded to his calls.
Sub continental Curry
Royal Tanveer and Daredevil Maharoof have been successfully tried as pinch hitters by their captains. It will be interesting to see if this has a bearing on the game.
There and there about
Glen Mc Grath seems to wake up from sleep and still be able to bowl that nagging line and length in and around the corridor of uncertainty.
Munaf Patel sees Mc Grath as his idol and has emulated him pretty well in this league. The change in his attitude and body language has been refreshing to watch.
Firing them or not firing them in
Sohail Tanveer has been an absolute revelation in the tournament. He has bowled with immense control. He’s bowled good bouncers, fired in yorkers and got the slower one going. He’s even managed to find yorker length with slower ball consistently.
Maharoof too has slipped in some useful bouncers and been in the channel outside the off stump. He too would be looking to use the slower one to good effect.
Spinning it square
Wankhede is one venue in the league where spinners would get the most purchase. If they can bowl well they will play a huge role. And if bowling well is required, one man who does it on any pitch is Shane Warne. This pitch will suit him and he could run away with the match if fast bowlers get a couple of early wickets.
Sehwag would look to use Amit Mishra to lure batsmen into big shots and then pulling the trap. He should be looking to use Dilshan and rolling his own arm over too.
Keeping it safe
Dinesh Karthik and Mahesh Rawat have done a good job behind the stumps. For Rajasthan, Akmal is unlikely to play because of restriction on the number of foreign players that can take the field. Dinesh Karthik would be looking to contribute with the bat too. He won Delhi their match against Mumbai.
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.
A Preview: Delhi DareDevils were in a desperate situation before today’s match against the Bangalore Royal Challengers. They had had 10 points off eleven matches, and with only three matches to play for them, an all win record from now on would take them to sixteen. Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, had 12 off ten, thus would need only two wins off their four matches to equal Delhi even if they win all! This only meant one thing, it was a must win situation for the DareDevils. At the other end of the spectrum, one had the Bangalore Royal Challengers sitting with four points for some time now, showing no urgency to move anywhere, but down the points table.
Spin of coin: Delhi DareDevils won the toss and elected to field first on a pitch that was supposed to play slower and lower as the game progressed. His reasoning would have been simple, it is easier to chase in a twenty over encounter when you have the target in sight, than actually setting one.
Compositions: There were about half a dozen changes made in all, to both the sides, which was a record of sorts. For the Delhi DareDevils, Amit Mishra was very surprisingly rested after a brilliant performance earlier and in came Yo Mahesh, where as Shoaib Malik made way for A.B. deVilliers. The Royal Challengers’ challenge had ended, and hence they decided to bring in some new players as well, Dale Steyn, Sreevats Goswami, B. Akhil and Bharat Chipli making it into the playing XI.
The Review: The biggest problem facing Bangalore Royal Challengers is their opening partnership, and hence it was no big surprise to see their eighth opening pair of the tournament walk out to face up the bowling, in the form of Jacques Kallis and Bharat Chipli. Chipli did not last long, but it was the second wicket partnership of Kallis and Under-19 ‘keeper and debutant, Sreevats Goswami that stabilized the innings. Kallis was dismissed by Farveez Maharoof and was soon followed by Dravid’s dismissal, but Sreevats duly completed his half century, making him the youngest in the tournament to do so. However, he soon departed in a bid to up the ante, and the Challengers lost wickets at regular interval to stutter to 130/7 in 19 overs. It was here that Misbah-ul-Haq bashed 24 runs off Rajat Bhatia to propel the Challengers’ score to 154/7 in the 20. McGrath was his miserly self with figures of 4-0-15-2, but Maharoof went one better, his four overs yielding only 13 runs for the two wickets.
Delhi’s reply was exactly as their team name suggests, ‘daredevilish’. It was Gautam Gambhir who continued his good form – to reach 500 runs in the tournament – but Sehwag quickly joined in the party and left his partner way behind. The powerplay – of six overs – went for 71 without a loss of any wickets, where as the next over went for 19, before Sehwag cut one straight to the point’s throat. Delhi was 90/1 at this stage in only 7 overs! It was only the wicket of Gambhir and the subsequent introduction of the spinners that stemmed the flow of scoring to such an extent, that the batsmen begun to feel the pressure and soon succumbed to it. Dilshan was stumped off Kumble, where as de Villiers edged one off Steyn. When Dinesh Karthik fell at the score of 132, the DareDevils still required 22 runs of 27 balls. They did stutter a bit, but in the end, reached their target with five wickets and 10 deliveries to spare.
The MoM: For a change, we had a played from the losing side win the Man-of-the-Match award, Sreevats Goswami winning it for his well crafted 50 along with three dismissals – a catch, stumping and a run-out!
After losing four successive games, Delhi Daredevils fianally defeated Deccan Chargers by 12 runs yesterday - their fifth victory out of 10 games played. Amit Mishra claimed the second hat-trick of the Indian Premier League (IPL) here on Thursday night to guide Delhi Daredevils to a thrilling 12-run win over Deccan Chargers.Earlier Laxmipati Balaji of Channei Super Kings claimed the first hatrick in IPL.
Mishra picked up five for 17 and became the third bowler after Sohail Tanvir (6/14) and Lakshmipathy Balaji (5/24) to claim five wickets or more in an IPL innings.
