IPL Proving Big Hit

The Indian Premier League has so far proved a big hit for not only the Indians but viewers around the world. Despite being out of season in Australia, the IPL has attracted audiences of nearly 400,000 on its channel 10 network, who incidentally have signed a five year screening deal.

Of course it is in India itself where the audiences have gone crazy. Mixing the tournament with Bollywood and commercialism has proved a great success as visitors not only flock to watch their favourite cricketers but popular Movie stars such as Shah Rukh Khan who are massive celebrities on the sub-continent.

The tournament has been greatly hyped up, no wonder then that, for the opening ceremony the organisers hired cheerleaders, stiltwalkers and laser shows.

Without getting too far ahead, it has so far been a success and witnessing some great performances already there is no reason we should not expect more.

Sehwag Fireworks Seal Delhi Win

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A magnificent 94 not out from Virender Sehwag sealed a comfortable victory for Delhi Daredevils over the Deccan Chargers at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

Sehwag hit his 94 from just 41 balls including 10 boundaries and 6 maximums as Delhi reached the winning target set by Hyderabad for the loss of just one wicket.

Hyderabad opened the batting with Rohit Sharma scoring an heroic 66 from just 36 balls but good bowling from Glenn McGrath, Mohammad Asif, Farheez Maharoof and Rajat Bhatia restricted Hyderabad to just 142-8. Shahid Afridi and Andrew Symonds were kept unusually quiet.

In reply the Daredevils always looked comfortable despite losing the early wicket of Gautam Gambhir. Sehwag and Shikhar Dhawan finished unbeaten to guide Delhi to the 9 wicket win. The second win of the tournament for the Daredevils whilst Hyderabad are yet to get off the mark.

Final result from Hyderabad: Delhi Daredevils beat the Hyderabad Chargers by 9 wickets.

Watson Shines As Rajasthan Win

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Shane Watson hit 76 from 49 balls as Rajasthan Royals overcame Mohali at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

It was the Australian’s Shane Warne and Shane Watson which were the heroes for Rajasthan, as Warne recorded figures of 19-3 off his 4 overs which restricted Mohali to 166-8 from their 20 overs. Yuvraj Singh hitting 57 from 34.

Then It was Watson’s turn to provide the heroics with his blistering innings, which included 5 boundaries and 5 sixes. Watson and Ravindra Jadeja (36) pushed Rajasthan over the finishing line for the teams first win of the tournament. Brett Lee, Chawla, Hopes and Pathan bowled tight for Mohali but the total was too small to defend.

Final Result: Rajasthan Royals win by 6 wickets

Opening Games See Kolkata Top

Kolkata Knight Riders go top of the Indian Premier League after winning both their opening games of the tournament. Kolkata beat Bangalore by 140 runs in the opening game on Friday before beating Mumbai by five wickets on Sunday.

It’s been a thrilling start to the tournament which has seen not only the highest Twenty20 score ever (158 by Brendon McCullum) but the fastest (Mike Hussey 116 from 54 balls). Just the sort of ball cracking entertainment to woo the Indian crowds and get the tournament off to the flying start it needed.

But its not just the batting which has been the highlight. We have seen superb performances from veterans such as Glenn McGrath and Shaun Pollock (bat & ball). I have also been impressed by the fielding, after a number of good catches and plenty of run outs during the opening fixtures.

How they stand:

		P	W	L	NR	T	P	NRR
Kolkata Knight Riders		2	2	0	0	0	4	+3.764
Delhi Daredevils		1	1	0	0	0	2	+2.253
Chennai Super Kings		1	1	0	0	0	2	+1.650
Bangalore Royals		2	1	1	0	0	2	-3.423
Mumbai		1	0	1	0	0	0	-0.191
Hyderabad		1	0	1	0	0	0	-0.395
Mohali		1	0	1	0	0	0	-1.650
Rajasthan		1	0	1	0	0	0	-2.253

 

Bangalore beat Mumbai

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Bangalore Royal Challengers put their opening IPL defeat behind them as they recorded a 5 wicket win against Mumbai at Wankede Stadium.

A late South African onslaught from Jacques Kallis (25) and Mark Boucher (39 n.o) saw Bangalore home after Mumbai batted first reaching 165-6 from their 20 overs.

Robin Uthappa was the star for Mumbai, as he hit 48 from 38 balls before being stumped by Boucher off Balachandra Akhil. Sachin Tendulkar could not feature due to injury but Shaun Pollock blazed a late 28 from just 12 balls to give Mumbai a competitive total.

Despite losing five wickets in the reply, all the Bangalore batsmen chipped in with some runs with captain Rahul Dravid scoring 32 before Kallis and Boucher blazed 55 from 31 balls to help get Bangalore home with two balls to spare. Harbhajan Singh’s 36-2 off his 4 overs not enough to prevent defeat for Mumbai.

Final result: Bangalore Royals won by 5 wickets.

Watch all the wickets below: