Superkings Suprabhaadam #2

After having won a tight encounter in the opening match, the Chennai Super Kings were in Mohali for the ‘Battle Royale’ between the Kings. The Kings XI Punjab having started on a sober note wanted to make amends.

Praveen Picks a Pair

I pity this man from Uttar Pradesh. He has this knack of picking early wickets by getting the ball to swing both ways, yeah, this way and that way. He missed the opportunity of his life to be part of the World cup winning squad, after having picked up an injury just before the team departed. But then it was destined that India win the World Cup with the likes of Sreesanth and so it did. Praveen, already, having picked Smith first ball in the game against Pune Warriors went one step ahead and dismissed both Aniruddha and Raina in the opening two deliveries of the match and straight away brought the CSK side on the mat.

Helicopter, Heaves and Hullabaloo

Put in place at the very beginning, Murali Vijay and Badrinath, regional teammates for around 10 years, started the process of building up the innings cautiously. Once seeing that the bowling wasn’t that much of a trouble after Praveen’s opening spell, free the arms was the norm. Harsha Bhogle on air commented that the best place to hit the cricket ball was down the ground – straight. And so the batsmen went about their job dutifully, by sending the ball straight down the ground, keeping the umpires on their toes to shy away from their hits. Vijay changed gears smoothly and raced from 40 to 70 in no time. Badri was showing intent, chipping the ball in vacant areas. Vijay finally perished going for the big one.

In came Dhoni and bad time. Bad time for Punjab bowlers to hold the ball. With a crashing strike rate of 215, Dhoni sent the bowlers to cleaners. In particular he reserved special treatment for Praveen, sending his deliveries over the ropes. And out came the helicopter from Mahi’s bat that would have made the Pepsi advertisers proud. And so the innings received a royal end with all the heaves and hullabaloo on a majestic 188.

Valthaty – Vandalizing Beauty

T20 hundreds are always special. And when it comes in a winning cause chasing down at 9.5 runs an over against the defending champions, its extra special – a small time adjective. Paul Valthaty put on display one of the finest innings in T20 to sink CSK. What astonished me in the innings is that it had 19 fours and just 2 sixes, uncharacteristic. He found the boundary almost every over and in some there were more than just one. His shots though not from the book were timed and placed well. And when a batsman bats like a dream, his co-batsmen just need to give him company and so did they. What makes the innings even more admirable is that, Valthaty saw to that he completed the task he sought out for. A morale boosting win for Kings XI Punjab.

Butter spills

· Amongst other things, one of the lows that IPL has brought upon us is the poor quality of live commentary. This match was marriage of sorts, at one end it was the ever smooth Harsha Bhogle, flowing like a stream of fresh water and at the other end; it was mere cacophony coming from Danny Morrison’s mouth. Every time the ball sails over the rope, he goes “Guess what?” Arrey boss, we watch the same live match as you do and we know it’s a six. I do hope sincerely that he stops doing radio commentary for TV audience.

· I respect Murali Vijay as a batsman. He is an asset to the team and scores consistently at the top of the order. But it is his attitude that worries me. Whenever the ball came to him while fielding, he keeps limping in the ground. Vijay, if you are not fit enough to field, you can always call the 12^th man as a sub. As in that’s why we have a 12^th man in cricket.

Seeing at the optimistic side of things, Chennai Superkings win the IPL every time they lose their first match to Kings XI Punjab. Ya, I know it has happened only once, but still it’s a statistics worth looking forward to.