cricket

IPL: weekly review

Blockbusters, bouncers
dinesh
April 24, 2008

With each team done with two games and every venue done with one apiece, Cricinfo takes stock of the early action.


Virender Sehwag's assault against Andrew Symonds read: 4,6,4,6,4,6 (file photo) © Getty Images


The blockbuster: Not only did Kolkata see more than 85,000 pack the Eden Gardens, but a mud-cake of a pitch, faulty light-towers, and a nail-biting finish. Knight Riders v Deccan Chargers was the most dramatic match of the first week and it will take several bunglers to reprise that classic. Not that the curator, association chiefs or even the chief minister would want another bout of fierce criticism. A blockbuster anyway you look at it.

Mini-battle count Kumar Sangakkara unleashed a furious flat-batted on-drive of Murali before holing out to long-off; Andrew Symonds took a few nimble steps down the ground to pummel Pigeon for two fours; Matthew Hayden saw off Harbhajan Singh; Murali halted his run-up midway while bowling to Harbhajan before the batsman backed off the next ball. Zaheer got Ganguly again, and Dravid, not for the first time, struggled against Pollock. The rivalries are simmering but none has blown the roof off yet. Here's wishing for Ponting to club Warne for 30 in an over.

Sizzling sequence McCullum's assault against Zaheer in just the second over of the tournament (4,4,6,4) was an ideal fire-starter and Rohit Sharma's 6,6,4,4,4 had the Hyderabad crowd on their feet but the most sensational hitting came when Virender Sehwag brutalised Symonds with a sequence that read 4,6,4,6,4,6. Peppering extra cover, square leg, backward square leg, cover, midwicket and long-on, he sealed the match with violent hammer blows.

Spirit watch: The Spirit of Cricket award is at stake but there aren't many takers, it seems. Hayden refused to walk after nicking to the wicketkeeper in Chennai; Sreesanth had several things to say to Kamran Akmal in Jaipur; Scott Styris endured a mid-pitch collision with Laxmi Ratan Shukla in Kolkata; and Symonds and Gilchrist argued with the umpire in the climactic stages at Eden Gardens. At the other end of the spectrum was Dravid, standing his ground after a caught-and-bowled chance but walking away once Harbhajan began to celebrate.

From obscurity to stardom: Dinesh Salunkhe, the legspinner, has got tongues wagging in Rajasthan (when Warne talks highly of a legbreak bowler, you ought to listen); Manpreet Gony, the big medium-pacer, has turned into Chennai's chief weapon; Ashok Dinda has enjoyed opening the bowling for Kolkata; Ravindra Jadeja has played a winning had for Jaipur; and Abhishek Nayar has injected zing into Mumbai. Sehwag, though, is the only Indian to claim a Man-of-the-Match award so far.

Ground watch: Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium produced a near-perfect contest. Zaheer and Co. gained lift early on - to the extent that Dominic Thornely needed 15 stitches after being struck on the face - the batsmen prospered and the spinners thrived as the game went on. Chennai came close but the dewy outfield made it extremely difficult for the bowlers. Jaipur was up there as well, offering help for batsmen and bowlers.


The Australians have scored nearly 25% of the total runs in the IPL so far © Cricinfo


Aussie meter: Most teams have rode on Aussie power. The two Shanes (Watson and Warne) swung a game in Jaipur, the Hussey brothers have played one match-winning knock apiece, McGrath has spearheaded Delhi's charge, Hayden hasn't been quiet and James Hopes has made an impact in Mohali. After eight games, the Australians have contributed almost 25% of the total runs in the tournament.

Mis-fits and bloopers: VVS Laxman playing Twenty20, and Bangalore opening with Rahul Dravid and Wasim Jaffer when confronted with a target of 223. Enough said. Venugopal Rao, opening for Hyderabad, has looked like a fish out of water, as has Darren Lehmann running around on the field. Lehmann fluffing a dolly at mid-off, off a Yuvraj Singh leading edge, was surely the clumsiest so far.

Prime numbers
43 - The percentage of dot balls in the IPL so far

17 - The average number of balls per six, which converts to one every 2.5 overs

2 - The total number of threes run in the tournament

8.27 - The average runs per over in the first eight matches

11.11 - The run rate in the last five overs. During the Powerplays (first six overs), the scoring rate is only 7.66

TV atrocity: An exotically named Lekha Washington going up to Asad Rauf after the Eden Gardens power failure and asking: "What is your prediction for the match?". Equally infuriating was everyone referred to Rauf as Aleem Dar. "We are not supposed to comment," was Rauf's candid reply.

Pearls of wisdom
"It's a hard man's game - that's why it's a profession."
Laxman Sivaramakrishnan gets philosophical on air

"My level of involvement is that I'm here."
Preity Zinta gets into the thick of the action

"Bowling spin can be like poker as well"
Tom Moody doffs his hat to poker expert, Shane Warne, after his match-winning spell