Indian Premier League and Cricket News by IPL Cricket Forum

Editorial

IPL started with Brandon McMullum firing for Kolkata Knight Riders and today the league ended with one of the most powerful batting display by none other than Shaun Marsh with a superb knock of 115 (seven sixes and eleven fours) of just 69 balls. His knock ensured a smooth and confidence-boosting win for Kings XI Punjab just before the semis while it put a break to the no one team Rajasthan Royals winning streak.

Rajasthan Royals played the match today under the captain ship of Shane Watson in absence of Shane Warne who after winning toss decided to field.

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Shaun Marsh continued his batting blitzkrieg with his forth Man of the Match - award in the Indian Premier League, hitting 60 in the Kings XI Punjab’s win over Deccan Chargers.

Marsh scored his fifth half-century in a totoal of eight games with three fours and three sixes before getting caught with a half-hearted hit off Herschelle Gibbs at long-on.

Kings XI Punjab made 4-178 with three balls to spare chasing Deccan’s impressive total of 4-175 at the Punjab’s Mohali ground.

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Yesterday was another disaster day for Bangalore - Yes they do need a bit of luck also like Dravid said at the end of the match.

“They outclassed us. They played some good cricket. Came out
and chased beautifully. We kept losing momentum and we probably needed
around 175-180. We fell well short of that. We needed a bit of luck
too. We need to raise our game and hope for better results”
- said Rahul David at the end of the match.

Its pointless to try and put the blame on a particular person or persons. But of course defeat will always lead to such mud slinging. Its also obvious that only four team will make it to the final. So there will be four teams which will remain in the bottom rank of the table.

But Cricket does not end there. Nearly everyone felt sorry for Rahul - after all he is a nice human being and a good player. Its not the fact that he has many test players or players not suitable for 20Twenty - its a game of cricket and a 20Twenty situation even happens in one day cricket and also in test matches - so many balls and so many runs is a common feature in cricket.

Also one can do little with the like of Brandon McCullum and Shaun Marsh batting at their all time best.

What this team lacks is a team-spirit - loyalty to the team - and a zeal to win and perform. Lets hope Rahul and his boys cover it up with some good performance in the remaining matches.

© IPL Cricket Forum

A clinical and perfect win for the Kings XI punjab who seem to have grown up much after the initial loses. This was the debutant match for Shaun Marsh who got going tonight and made sure that there are no hiccups in this run chase. He opened the innings for Kings XI and scored a superb knock of 84 off 62 balls with eleven fours and one six and remaining not out.

Earlier a brilliant knock by Rohit Sharma ( 76 out of 42 balls) saw Deccan Chargers pull up a total of 164 for 8 in 20 overs. He was the lone warrior for the Chargers and single handedly took them to a total which was at least challenging.

But Marsh played a stunner on his debut match and was well supported by Jayawardene, who played a fine cameo. With this win, Punjab are in 4th place in the points table. We have a great match tomorrow between Chennai and Delhi, the two teams who have looked the best in this league so far. So stay tuned to IPL Cricket Forum.

Deccan Chargers: 164/8 (20.0 Ovs)
Kings XI Punjab: 167/3 (18.5 Ovs)

Kings XI won by 7 wickets and seven balls to spare.
Man of the Match - Shaun Marsh.

© IPL Cricket Forum

The Queensland and Australia all-rounder James Hopes flew out this morning for his 44-day odyssey in the IPL, for which he will receive a sum of $324,000 or $7363 per day. Hopes will play for the Kings XI Punjab, linking with fellow Australians Brett Lee, Simon Katich, Luke Pomersbach and Shaun Marsh in the controversial Twenty20 feast - reports Brisbane Times

Also in the sheds will be Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, Kiwi quick Kyle Mills, Indian swing bowler Irfan Pathan and the team’s captain Yuvraj Singh.

While Hopes, known as “Catfish”, was upbeat about the IPL’s prospects of becoming a meaningful part of the cricketing calendar, he was less certain of the exact location of his new home for the next six weeks.

“I think it is in the middle (of the country). Towards the top of the middle. It’s not right up the top but it’s in the top half,” Hopes said.

The devil may be in the detail for the likeable Hopes, but don’t tell him he’s just chasing the money with his IPL jaunt.

The 29-year-old firmly believes the IPL can dramatically revamp a tired international schedule jammed with irrelevant one-day contests.

But he cautioned the cricketing public against demanding too much too soon from the cashed-up spectacle, which has divided the cricketing world and threatens to replicate football’s constant squabbling over club versus country.

“It can work but I think the public are kidding themselves if they think it’s all going to go flawlessly in the first couple of years,” Hopes said.

“It’s something that has been thrown together, in a way, and it will be good. In the first year there will be teething problems. But that’s the same of any tournament. And I think you will see the benefits of this within two or three years time.”

Hopes urged governing bodies to find a stand-alone slot for the tournament each year to ensure the IPL became a meaningful contributor to the game, rather than a source of friction between rival boards.

“Everyone’s talking about how it could damage international cricket - I think it could bring it back. You go over, you do this then you hook up with the national team again. It’s not just another one-day series,” Hopes said.

“It could give international cricket a much-needed break in the schedule. You know you’ll get six or eight weeks off where there is no international cricket and guys are going to be playing the Twenty20 tournament - added Brisbane Times.

IPL will really usher in a new horizon for not only Indian Cricket but also International Cricket and will sure inject fresh life into the Game we call Cricket.