IPL T20 Cricket

Bangalore IPL slipped from jaws of success to defeat against Chennai Super Kings at Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore. Chennai won the game by 13 runs and registered its fourth successive win. Bangalore Royal Challengers who are on the way to register a sensational win suddenly lost quick wickets from the 15th over onwards. Dhoni, hussey and Oram once again played crucial roles for Chennai.

But we have to see how Chennai will perform after the departure of Hayden, Hussey and Oram. It is very difficult for Chennai to win the inaugural Indian Premier League tournament without these match winning giants. India and Chennai captain MS Dhoni almost singlehandedly won this match for Chennai with his stunning batting performance and cool captaincy. He is really a new age cricketer. He justified his 6 crore. He is the best captain after Shane Warne among the IPL captains.

IPL T20 match scorecard:

Chennai Super Kings: 178/5 in 20 overs.
Bangalore IPL: 165 all out in 19.4 overs.
Match result: Chennai won the game by 13 runs.

Man of the match: Chennai captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

IPL Cricket match highlights:

1. Dale Steyn failed miserably which helped Chennai to score respectable score.
2. Zaheer Khan once again bowled good spell and took the crucial wickets of Mathew Hayden, MS Dhoni and Michael Hussey. Zaheer Khan Form is a good hope for Indian team.
3. MS Dhoni played vital knock of 65 runs in just 30 balls with 9 fours and 3 sixers. This is a match saving knock from Chennai captain at a crucial point of innings.
4. Praveen Kumar is another Indian pacer who impressed cricket lovers with his tight bowling in this tournament. Bangalore is looking very strong in bowling department.
5. Wasim Jaffer and Ross Taylor almost took the match away from Chennai kings but Chennai bowler Amaranath changed the match course by taking both wickets.
6. South African pair Kallis and Boucher failed to play match saving knocked and buckled under tense conditions.
7. It is waste to talk about Rahul Dravid batting. Why are they (Dravid and other seniors) playing this tourney despite knowing well about their inability to cope with twenty20 demands?
8. MS Dhoni’s cool captaincy in tense situation is another major reason behind Chennai’s victory.
9. Bangalore lost last eight wickets for just 38 runs. Rahul Dravid scored “Golden Duck”.
10. Why Misbah-Ul-Haq is not playing for Bangalore despite being in superb form? Only God knows.

Verdict: Only teams with cool captains who can take bold decisions and inspire team members with their cricketing skills can win tournaments. Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai missed such captains. Shane Warne is the real star who inspired an average team to do stunning things by instilling self belief in them. Shane Warne is the “God of Rajasthan Royals” and MS Dhoni is the representative of “New Age Cricket”.

Dark points in IPL history:

1. Eden Gardens pitch.
2. Harbhajan and Sreesanth episode.
3. Hyderabad selection politics.

But Indian Premier League gave me so many sweet memories in its short history. Long live IPL.