Chennai win super last-ball game

I missed 10 overs of Chennai's reply while walking down to the Eden Gardens, but was just in time to watch the finish on television. It wasn't surprising either that two of the best teams in the competition contested a last-ball thriller. For the Super Kings, who had lost three in a row after a perfect-four start, it was a huge result, while the formidable Delhi Daredevils are now due a bout of navel-gazing after two successive defeats.

The impetus for a stunning chase was provided first by Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan and then by Albie Morkel, whose three consecutive sixes off Virender Sehwag were a masterclass in the art of clean, big hitting. Suddenly, the daunting asking rate became manageable, even though Manpreet Gony and S Badrinath needed to find 15 from the final over bowled by Shoaib Malik.

The result would have been a huge disappointment for Gautam Gambhir, whose dazzling 49-ball 80 had taken Delhi to a potentially matchwinning 187. The most consistent batsman at the T20 World Cup last September, Gambhir has used the IPL to once again highlight his command of this abbreviated cricket language. During the course of his innings, he also took over the orange cap given to the tournament's leading scorer.

Incidentally, in a match where most bowlers were reduced to cannon-fodder status, Glenn McGrath finished with 0 for 23 from his four overs. There's just no substitute for quality, especially when it comes with a decade and a half of experience.

Comments

[SRINI]

If only R.E. Grant Govan and Anthony S. D'Mello could see where we are now.

[SRINI]

Venky, this was his first come back game. Give Balaji time.

But you make a good point, the selections to a team in the IPL are not based on any real reasoning, they are merely based on the whim's of a Maharajah who owns each club. India being the home of corruption, this is without doubt open to politicking and bribery. I wonder what back room nudging and winking was involved in the selection of Balaji from nowhere. Don't get me wrong, I so happy to see him back, but no doubt it was too soon and a little surprising wouldn't you say!!!

On that thought of Maharajah's, don't you think this current system smells a bit of divide and rule. As long as the Maharajah's don't upset the Viceroy Sharad Pawar and give him some cut of the cash, they can do what they want and fiddle their share of the fortune too.

Finally back to the point of bribery. In the home of the bribe and the bookie, we have a game of essentially meaningless cricket (don't get me wrong its great entertainment, and I agree there have been several positives). I wonder how long it will be before the temptation of the forces of evil that reside within our system start to try to taint our sport again and offer the poison apple to some of our youngsters. You have to say, if test cricket is open to match fixing, the IPL with no regulations and constant travel of players meeting new people is certainly an open net.

[Venkat Reddy]

mate that King?L.Balaji was very very lucky to not get hit for 55 runs.His days are over.He was a fine bowler when he started off but injuries have made him awful.His time's up and he is one of the luckiest men in the ipl circuit,making the kind of bucks for the rubbish he is bowling.

[neilsrini]

SANJAYN CMJ is interested in protecting his son's place in mediocre cricket. There aren't enough quality English players to fill 18 counties because the talented sportsmen are lost to football and rugby, that is fact.

[SanjayN]

CMJ is a cricket lover and it's good to see him criticizing the obvious problem in county cricket. I've been yelling for yonkers about the Kolpak abuses. What's striking is that the majority of Kolpak players are from SA, and SA's domestic selection issues have become an unwitting problem for English county cricket.

Given India's huge population, both the ICL and IPL have given hitherto unknown players a chance to shine. There are plenty of gems hidden in India's town and villages who will now believe they have an opportunity to realise their dreams.

Atherton writes that there aren't enough quality English players to fill the 18 counties which I believe is rubbish. In India, there aren't enough teams to cover all the quality players.

[neilsrini]

I'm just stirring Dileep. You know me, outspoken for the sake of it!!

Having said that I don't agree with CMJ. I feel the problem with county cricket is the seasoned pro who lingers along, never going to get into the England team yet stopping young talent getting in. You don't get that in Pura Cup. You don't get Mark Elham et al. lingering around eeking out a living and lowering the standard.

The 4 overseas players rule works well in India. As much as I love Ranji cricket its a terrible breeding ground. In the 80's Gavaskar, Kapil, Shastri et al. used to turn up, since Tendulkar ruined the final for Tamil Nadu I can't remember a significant appearance from an Indian national team player. They just don't turn up. The 4 player rule means you have to use local players and its great for the kids to speak and learn from the best in the game (something they never had before). They get to feel what it is like to grow up in something similar to the Pura Cup where the competition is fierce. The jury is still out as to whether 3 overs slogging Glen Mcgrath is of any use both in terms of technique and temperament. But there is no doubt certain bowling skills and fielding skills will be vastly improved.

Its great to see the youth of India more regularly. Hope you are having a ball in Calcutta. I hope Dravid gets a luck break all this bad press is not good.

By the way, is 20:20 the end of the fifty over game?

[Dileep]

How does that make him a racist, Neil? One of the things I like about IPL is the four-foreigner limit. It forces teams to invest in young Indian talent. We'd never see a Dhawal Kulkarni or a Rohan Raje otherwise.

[neilsrini]

By the way who knew CMJ was a racist!!

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/350183.html

[neilsrini]

How memorable and wonderful it was to see our very own Sivaramakrishnan Vidyut tear Glen McGrath (perhaps the greatest fast bowler that ever lived) apart. Awesome, the long forgotten man, set the tone and showed the spirit of the side. Those are memories which he can take to the grave, and I suppose this is what the IPL is about, future stars and those in it for a pension getting a chance to see their name in lights. It is the story of players like Vidyut that even after the match the man-of-the-match trophy went to Dhoni who not once mentioned this man's innings in the ceremony and even droped him after his first game 50.

Raina looks a beauty to watch, so still, so compact, so measured. He is a dearm to watch when he plays straight. He has the potential to be the classiest left hander India ever produced. YET time and time and time again, he throws it away with poor decision making. In the previous games he has got set and then played a terrible shot. Today all he had to do was steady the ship yet, again a terrible shot cost him. No good looking pretty when your shot selection is dire and you don't know how to compose an innings. I suppose this is one of the problems we will have with Indian batting in the future. Too much joke cricket and hitting being branded around, we will lose the one talent that made the Indian batsman the best in the world, the ability to construct an innings. In the 70's, 80's and 90's there were boys who used to hit double hundreds for fun on the domestic circuit and still not make it to the Indian side. Will this generation of test players be the last??? The new generation are merely a bunch of dashers, and it is not surprising that Raina only has 5 first class hundreds to his name (which again shows his poor shot selection and ability to build an innings). Raina could do well to remember the fate of Damien Martyn after one too many a poor shot. As Steve Waugh famously said, "character over cover drive any day mate".

But the highlight of the day without doubt was the return of the forgotten KING to a team of SUPER-KINGS. That Lakshmipathy Balaji battled 3 years of injury with a smile on his face was no surprise. That he caped it off with a sterling come back, after some bad overs, to claim innings best figures of 2-35 was the best moment of the tournament so far for fans from Chennai. The boy is back!!!! and don't you forget it....