The underdogs, Rajasthan Royals clinched the first IPL Final and emerged as the winner after a memorable run throughout the tournament under the most able Captainship of Shane Warne in an exciting finish on Sunday at Mumbai. After two dull and one-sided semifinals this was a great match with the luck swinging from one side to the other in equal measures.
The Indian Premier League dropped the curtain today after 44 days of cricket extravaganza. The Final started after some extra ordinary entertainment dished out by the organizers in the form of Indian Movie Stars, Music, Laser Shows and to end with para-gliders descending on the Stadium with individual team flags. And just before the finals began the entire crowd was held breathless by an awesome performance by Cirque du Soleil.
PTI: New Delhi - Purists may dismiss the Indian Premier League (IPL) as dumbing down of cricket but Sachin Tendulkar feels instead of being criticised, the glamorous twenty20 series should be lauded for globalising the game.
“I don’t personally feel that, you know, (IPL is) dumbing down the game. It’s just another version of cricket,” Tendulkar said.
Indian Premier League (IPL) Match Preview – The Grand Finale
The Armies – Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings
Rajasthan Royals made brief work of it with an emphatic 105 run win over the Delhi Daredevils on Friday. Chennai Super Kings, the firm non-favorites beat Kings XI Punjab by 9
wickets with overs to spare.
The Battleground – DY Patil Cricket Stadium, Navi Mumbai, Mumbai
While the pitch at Wankhede had help for spinners, the pitch at this ground has more pace and bounce. Rajasthan bowlers have bowled well on most pitches. Chennai with Ntini, Morkel and Gony will be happier to play on this sort of pitch and absence of Graeme Smith on this sort of pitch will be a factor. Rajasthan have played a match at this ground. Although they were shot out here by Mumbai but Warne would surely have picked a point or two.
South African batsman Graeme Smith, opener for Rajasthan Royals has been ruled out of the Final on Sunday due to a hamstring injury. Smith who was quite fit on the field was injured during the semi-finals with Delhi Daredevils yesterday.
Shane Warne is considering either Yunus Khan or Kamran Akmal to open in the finals with Swapnil Asnodkar. However, Khan with only one IPL match in which he scored three runs and Akmal with five matches (avg 30) is no match to Smith but everyone is aware how Warney handles his players and install confidence in them.
Shane also acknowledged Smith’s role in shaping up the teams success. Smith has scored a total of 441 runs (11 matches) with an average close to 49 and is considered as one of the strongest opening pair along with Swapnil.
Indian Premier League Match Preview – Semi final 2
Kings XI Punjab Vs Chennai Super Kings
Semi final 2 is to be played between the teams which stood at the second and third positions in the league.
The Armies – Kings XI Punjab v Chennai Super Kings
Kings XI Punjab with 20 points stood at the top of the league winning 10 of their 14 matches.Delhi Daredevils qualified by grabbing the third. They were victorious in 8 of their 14 matches. They ended on 16 points.
The Battleground – Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Wankhede always has purchase for spinners and there was enough encouragement for spinners in the first semi final.
