I wrote yesterday that my first real taste of the IPL was a bit disappointing; rather like an overdone rib of beef. The opening ceremony was too long and the actual cricket was mundane. Yesterday was much better.
Firstly, we had Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals pitting their wits against Sachin Tendulkar's Mumbai Indians. It was a fantastic match with Mumbai prevailing by four runs after hitting a mammoth 212/4 in their 20 overs. This was harsh on Yusuf Pathan, whose 100 off 37 balls for the Royals was a quite remarkable knock with brutality and subtleness dovetailing seamlessly together.
These days, the IPL is the only chance we get to see Warne and Tendulkar on the same pitch and Pathan's knock is what T20 is supposed to be about.
The second game was just as good, if only because it saw my adopted side, the Delhi Daredevils beat the Kings XI Punjab. England's forgotten man Ravi Bopara looked in good touch and it was thanks to him that Kings were able to post 142/9. I understand that despite having the likes of Gambhir, Sehwag, Dilshan, De Villiers and Nannes in their ranks, Delhi are the serial underachievers in the IPL. Being a Liverpool fan I know just how that feels, so it seems I have picked the right side. As befits this tag, Delhi made a bit of a dogs dinner of chasing their small target and they were indebted to a captain's knock of 72 from Gambhir that saw them over the line in the final over.
So my second taste of the IPL was much better than the first. Yesterday the beef was cooked to its succulent perfection.
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