Chennai Super Kings

Matthew Hayden bludgeoned a sensational 93 off 46 balls in a match-winning knock for the Chennai Super King’s in their match with the Delhi Daredevils on Friday.

This innings, though, was a bit different.

Hayden used the Mongoose, a new bat with a revolutionary design its creators claim is the perfect Twenty20 weapon.

The handle of the Mongoose bat is 43 percent longer and the blade 33 percent shorter than the conventional bat. The way it is created, though, allows for a larger sweet spot that could allow the batsman the ability to hit longer sixes more often.

Thomas Evans, Production Manager at Mongoose, told Half Volley , “The splice area of a traditional cricket bat cannot be used for attacking and is essentially dead weight as it only provides defensive capabilities.

“By taking this weight (which is not needed) and redistributing it into where it is needed the Mongoose can provide extra power and bat speed than a traditional bat.”

Mongoose tested the bat extensively at Imperial College London, which showed the bat provides 20% more power and 15% more batspeed when compared to a traditional bat.

Hayden’s innings, an example of how precision and power could be combined to great effect, could see the Mongoose catapulted into cricket’s mainstream.

Evans added, “It is incredibly pleasing to see the Mongoose MMi3 used on the world stage. Today in particular feels like a beginning of something huge for Mongoose.

“The phones haven’t stopped ringing since [those] innings; our website crashed during the height of the six hitting and we were a trending topic on Twitter, meaning we were one of the most discussed things on the internet.”

Whilst the Mongoose’s focus is on power, Evans claims that the bat could also be useful for touch players.

“We have found that the bat works most successfully when playing your normal game, whether you’re a power hitter or nudger and nurdler.

Often we see youngsters playing across the line in an attempt to hit the ball further, the Mongoose creates this extra power for you.”

Hayden is one of the Mongoose’s poster boys, and has demonstrated what it was capable of in a controlled media conference.

Today, he unleashed it for real and it seems that the Mongoose’s impact is only just beginning to be felt in the world of cricket.

This article was written by Jon Naylor for Half Volley , the half sport, half science website.

I said it!

Now am curious to see what the CSK have in store. It's been like Federer going up against Nadal or Murray for a while every time CSK went up against Royals. 3-0! I mean, for a team that has the superstar heavyweight line-up in every department virtually, they were losing it.

And yesterday, with Raina's effort, CSK seems to have turned a bend. Or  have they? And what a pity... a travesty too, it was, to see the scoreboard goof up and the premature celebrations and Raina getting consequently disturbed and OUT before what was a deserved TON!

Are there no referrals for these goof-ups? My heart really went out as Raina got out at 98. At "NINETY EIGHT", could you believe it? But, the brave heart that Raina is, he bowled and took wickets, caught splendidly and effecteda run-out too.

A richer deserved Man of the Match I am yet to witness in my 35 years of watching cricket... perhaps this side of Greg Matthews' legendary performance in that TIED TEST at CHEPAUK way back in the 90s.

All said and done, CSK can go proudly into their next match, looking forward to being up there at 4 or 5 largely because what the net run rate may do if KKR shocks MI tonight.

On the sundry side, I am starting to adore IPL - 2 for what they are doing to schools in South Africa. One Hundred Thousand Rand financial contribution to a school a day, that's lovely and redeeming after all the Mephisto-Faust job with the hammer and the auction.

I was deeply touched last night when the Principal of the recipient school said that they would strive to use the money as constructively as possible. I love your honesty, Sir!

We do hope IPL-3 goes to some other developing country where cricket as well as social and civic work can come together for a better world in these times of uncertainty.

What is happening to Chennai Super Kings at IPL 2? The question that surfaced the other day in some column or some TV channel crops up again: Is MSD a lucky captain or is MSD an anagram for MDS (read MiDaS)?

Well... at least for now, looking at 1 out of 5 wins and 1 washed out game that was a certain win (against a beleagured KKR), CSK's ante looks to be up and out. 

If one took a closer look at The Curious Case of CSK, there is nothing strange. History is only repeating itself, only so! Last year it was Deccan Chargers Hyderabad, this year it seems to be CSK at the moment.

At the moment because, they still have 9 matches to go and if they make the semis, which is not a very BIG IF, but an IF... then anything is possible. As the prosaic and hackneyed adage goes, cricket is a funny game! 

Let's get back to what the curious case is. Last year DCH was doing everything right and still ended up the bottom of the table. It was the inability to put together the extra oooomph of winning touch.

The problem was that they probably possessed too many big guns. Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Herschelle Gibbs, Rohit Sharma... and yet they couldn't wind it up! Similar problem for CSK this time around: Matt Hayden, Andrew Flintoff, Albie Morkel, Jacob Oram, MSD, Suresh Raina... and yet! May be when you have too many big 'uns you expect one to survive if another fails.

Look at KKR—it is happening. Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, Brad Hodge, Saurav Ganguly and there's a few more as yet unvetted! When you know your stocks are limited, supply is handled frugally. A case at point: Rajasthan Royals in IPL-1. 

What other causes? The first 6 overs. The Power Play period. Last time around Gony, Balaji, Ntini, Amarnath and Murali were delivering. This time around, Gony is looking listless to say the least, Ntini and Amarnath are only seen being interviewed in the 7 and half minute time out or playing water-boys and Balaji has had some success.

Joginder 'Iceman' Sharma is busy chewing his paan somewhere between the third man and the dug-out area. There is a limit to how much a recovering Balaji can do. So Murali is your only option.

Also... that IPL truly derives from its local flavour is being proved time and again. Last IPL the Indian local recruits performed better in Indian conditions. This time around... it is the South Africans, barring Graeme Smith. 

Look at what happened today to Royal Challengers Bangalore. They were struggling till last night. Suddenly, they cruised to a win, even if it is over KKR and even though the score line indicates a last ball victory.

The four overseas recruits RCB played in the Eleven were all South Africans. It is indeed a strange scenario why Boucher came into the side this late. Boucher coming in because Rahul is back home is no excuse not to have played a man of the former's stature. I mean, he is the finisher for South Africa.

Today RCB played Kallis, Roelf v d Merwe and Mark Boucher who are South Africans and play for South Africa. Of course, their captain is Kevin Pietersen. Now, we haven't forgotten KP is a South African by birth and almost, only almost played for S.Africa and moved to England when denied opportunity.

And he is the biggest buy of RCB. So, again the local flavour doing the winning contribution theory holds water! 

Eventually, here is the rub: may be CSK should keep Gony out and bring Ntini in. Rest Albie... Yes, no point resting Badri because he is a pure batsman and his only problem is the inability to clear the ropes.

Someone must tell Badri that his strength lies in playing inside the park than into the stands. When he is in flow, it is such a delight what his bat does to the cherry. The groundstrokes are breathtaking and next only to Sachin, Saurav, Rahul or VVS! Barring Mohali, no Indian ground was big enough last time.

Also, his range of strokes are better than Morkel who either swings it right or left giving too much stump vision for the bowler thereby making himself vulnerable to well-bowled blockhole deliveries or disguised slower 'uns. He is more of an agrarian with the bat, Albie is! 

I also do not think if Ntini, Balaji,  Oram and Murali can't do it, neither can Albie win the match with the ball. So, either keep Badri and rest Albie or bring in another pure batsman.

Grapevine, newspapers say, is M. Vijay may play instead of Badri, which is a bad idea. Kapugadera is no great slogger or match winner even in LOI for Sri Lanka except the odd contributions. So, why is he in the team in the first place? MSD seems to be in a fix. 

There is so much talent and shelf back-up, this team is spoilt for choice. MSD's golden touch is also losing out. Behind the cool exterior one can feel the sweat these days. He hasn't scored enough, hasn't middled enough and his ice-man Joginder has not delivered at death.

More than Midas touch or luck what had served MSD in the past is his guts to try out lesser mortal and surprise the opponents with the unknown. People are getting used to his tactics.

But to give the scenario a hard look and clinical analysis, nothing is wrong with CSK, they just need to understand they are very vulnerable if they don't shove the push hard to endemic levels up the opponent's face than minimal enema they are administering now.

There is a good match coming tomorrow against Wily Shane's Royals. If MSD passes this litmus test, CSK will march the rest of the way into semis.

Remember, CSK has a 0-3 record against RR, and nothing like a victory to set this record right, in the process helping themselves to winning ways with IPL-2. All is not rotten in the state of CSK, yet!

Mumbai Indians vs. Chennai Super Kings - 12.30 - Saturday, April 18

The opening game of the IPL 2009 will see Sachin Tendulkar's Mumbai Indians, take on IPL 2008 finalists, the Chennai Super Kings, at Newlands in Cape Town.

The Chennai Super Kings, under the leadership of wicketkeeper/batsman MS Dhoni, are entering this year's IPL as one of the bookmaker’s favourite.

Big hitting all-rounders Andrew Flintoff and Albie Morkel will be at the forefront of the Super Kings attack this coming Saturday.

They will try to be tamed by the Mumbai Indian's bowlers, consisting of Zaheer Khan, Lasith ‘Slinga’ Malinga and Harbhajan Singh, who have the knowledge of Shaun Pollock (the Mumbai Indians' mentor) on their side, when taking on the often tricky Newlands pitch.

All eyes will be on Mumbai's Sanath Jayasuria, to see if he can entertain the sold-out Newlands crowd, as he tries follow up his record as IPL’s greatest six hitter (31 sixes in IPL 2008).

Other Mumbai batsmen to watch will be the "Maestro" Sachin Tendulkar, "Million-Dollar Kid" JP Duminy (on his home ground), and West Indian Dwayne Bravo.

They'll try to be unsettled by Chennai's Makhaya Ntini, Muttiah Muralitharan, and Lakshmipathy Balaji.

IPL 2008 Results

Match 1: Chennai Super Kings won by 6 runs

Match 2: Mumbai Indians won by 9 wickets

It will be a terrific opener for the IPL 2009, and one definitely worth a punt on. I see the Mumbai Indians are going to benefit from the knowledge of Shaun Pollock, and fielding coach Jonty Rhodes (two South Africans who will know the conditions best) to just sneak out a very 20-20 orientated Super-Kings team.

IPL 2009 Predicted Result: Mumbai Indians to beat Chennai Super Kings

The next team to look at is the Royal Challengers. By the end of the season last year the team  fired its CEO for their poor performance sacked Rahul Dravid as its captain. They now have placed Kevin Pietersen in charge.

I like KP as a player and as a captain but he is going to be only there for the first eight games. Then the next captain will be thrown in midstream and the team has to adapt.

Look for them to lose a couple of games in this transition period.

Last Year  Result – seventh  

Batsmen (Internationals Starred) 

·         Kevin Pietersen*

·         Ross Taylor*

·         Wasim Jaffer

·         Rahul Dravid

·         Robin Uthappa

·         Manish Pandey

·         Mark Boucher*

·         Srivastava Goswami

All Rounders

·         Dillon du Preez*

·         Jacques Kallis*

·         Jesse Ryder*

·         Roelof van der Merwe*

·         Cameron White*

·         Virat Kohli

·         Praveen Kumar

·         Balachandra Akhil

Bowlers

·         Dale Steyn*

·         Nathan Bracken*

·         Pankaj Singh

·         Anil Kumble

·         Tinu Yohannan

Coaches: Ray Jennings

Some scheduling issues to be aware of when choosing the playing XI. The IPL starts April 18th and May 24th. Also the Australian- Pakistan series ends only on may 7th. The English and the West Indies will play starting May 6th and won’t be back.

So the team has to choose seven Indian in the playing XI. The automatic choices are Rahul Dravid, Robin Uthappa, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Anil Kumble. We have to add two Indians to that number.

I would add two from these four: Pandey, Akhil, and Goswami and Jaffer. Now comes the interesting part. Until Pietersen leaves for England the four internationals to XI should be Steyn, Pieterson, Ryder, Boucher.

So the Batting line up would be this:

Jesse Ryder

Rahul Dravid

Kevin Pietersen

Robin Uthappa

Virat Kohli

Boucher

B. Akhil

Goswami

Praveen Kumar

Steyn

Kumble

Once Pietersen leaves I would add Ross Taylor. His ability to hit sixes is amazing and can take apart any bowling attack. The problem is he has no staying ability and the middle order will be weak.

At some point you can add Bracken to this XI in place of Boucher because the bowling is weak.

I am not impressed by this team at all. Though they have five South Africans I don’t feel confident about their batting or bowling. They have 4 strong batsman and I am excited about the opening of Dravid and Ryder.

Last year, Dravid was heavily penalized for things he had no control over. The beating they took from McCullum in the first game stayed with them through the whole season.

Pietersen we all know will be motivated and loves the big stage and he fits in with the ideal of the IPL.  Boucher has saved SA many times and might have to here too.

Now we come to the bowling. It is a complete mess. Last year Steyn though he was getting paid to party and played like he was hung over.

This year he will be more motivated and BRC will hope that he can deliver. Before Bracken arrives he will share the ball with Kumar.

Kumar is a bowler that is often ripped apart because he doesn’t have the pace or variety to put doubts in the batsmen. Kumble can bring the variety but has been retired for six months and we don’t know if that will refresh him or will he be unable to play at this level.

Ryder can bowl a few overs but he too is like Kumar.

The final four overs  are going to be the batsman’s favorite. Some combination of Akhil, Goswami and Kohli will have to bowl. These players are unproven have not played under the bright lights expectations and pressure faced here.

When you add Bracken to the mix it strengthens the bowling. This is the time I expect the Challengers to make a solid run.

Expect the challengers to start a little hot then become mediocre lose a few after the change in captain and win some with the addition of Bracken.

So the season of the IPL is upon us.

I know a lot of people are opposed to the league, but I enjoy it and want to analyze each team for its weakness and its strengths and hopefully pick the correct winner. Once I finish analyzing the teams, I will send out my predictions for the season.

The analysis on the Bleacher Report has been weak especially because people forget that you can ONLY have FOUR non-Indians on the playing XI.

So I decided to start with CSK

Last Year Result – Runners up

Batsmen (Internationals Starred) 

• Matthew Hayden* 
  
• Michael Hussey*
• Murali Vijay
• Subramaniam Badrinath 
• Suresh Raina   
• George Bailey*
• Abhinav Mukund
• Ankit Gupta
• Arun Karthik
• Anirudha Srikkanth
• Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan

Wicketkeepers

• Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain)
• Parthiv Patel

All Rounders

• Andrew Flintoff*- Right-arm medium-fast
• Jacob Oram* - Right-arm medium-fast
• Albie Morkel*- Right-arm fast-medium 
• Shadab Jakati - Slow left-arm orthodox spin 
• Suresh Kumar - Right-arm offbreak
• Viraj Kadbe - Right-arm leg-break
• Napolean Einstein- Right-arm offbreak

Bowlers

• Muttiah Muralitharan* Right-arm off-break
• Joginder Sharma -Right-arm fast-medium
• Makhaya Ntini* -Right-arm fast
• Ravichandran Ashwin Right-arm off-break
• Sudeep Tyagi -Right-arm fast-medium
• Lakshmipathy Balaji - Right-arm fast-medium
• Thilan Thushara*- Right-arm offbreak
• Manpreet Gony- Right-arm medium
• Palani Amarnath- Right-arm medium

Coaches:

• Head Coach - Stephen Fleming
• Assistant Coach – Venkatesh Prasad

Some scheduling issues to be aware of when choosing the playing XI.

The IPL starts April 18^th and ends May 24^th. Also the Australian-Pakistan series ends only on May 7^th. The English and the West Indies will play starting May 6^th and won’t be back. THis means the CSK losses fintoff around the 5th and gains Hussey after that.

So the team has to choose seven Indians in the playing XI. The automatic choices are MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Subramaniam Badrinath, Lakshmipathy Balaji, and Manpreet Gony. We have to add two Indians to that number.

I would add Murali Vijay and Parthiv patel.

Murali Vijay played in one test against Australia and opened with Sehwag when Sachin was hurt. He impressed me very much and is a great fielder.

Parthiv Patel could wicket keep if Dhoni becomes tired. This happened last year toward the end and as a bonus is a pretty good batsmen.

With those seven Indians I would add Muttiah Muralitharan, Andrew Flintoff, Matthew Hayden, and Makhaya Ntini. Oram is hurt and rumor is he might not make it to the IPL.

So the Batting line up would be this.

Matthem Hayden

Murali Vijay

Suresh Raina

S Badrinath

MS Dhoni

Parthiv Patel

Andrew Flintoff

Manpreet Gony

L Balaji

Ntini

Murali

I toyed with the idea of picking Morkel in place of Ntini, but Ntini is a better bowler and the batting line-up is quite good. This would be the best playing XI until the 6^th.

When Flintoff leaves, Dhoni should pick Albie Morkel because they are both very similar players except Flintoff is a better bowler. He also might know the conditions better.

Once Hussey comes back, Dhoni can add him to the squad if he think’s the batting is weak. However Dhoni might have to drop Ntini and pick up Joginder Sharma. He played well under Dhoni in the World Twenty20.

I love the batting strength in this team because they bat till Balaji.

One weakness of this team is that the bowlers lack variety because there are four right arm fast bowlers and Murali is the only spinner. Parthiv Patel is the weak link, but may be one of the unknowns on the team can surprise us and steal his batting spot.

This is my first analysis so please give me feed back so that I can improve.

The Indian Premier League (IPL), 2009 will kick off in exactly a month's time. The lead up to one of the most anticipated and publicised events in India, has been fraught with doubts, rumours and security concerns.

The IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi has however cleared the air on security and scheduling issues. So, I guess we're all set for the IPL, finally. 

The Chennai Super Kings: A Bunch of Winners

The Chennai Super Kings (CSK), lead by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, had a fantastic run in IPL 2008. The team has been very aptly named because each player is a king -- there is no one king.

In cricketing parlance, Team CSK is made up of a bunch of winners, and they do not look up to one or two players to take them through.

Here's a very telling statistic. CSK's top five batsmen have scored 300 runs less than the top five in the Rajasthan Royals (RR), the reigning IPL champions. Here’s another telling fact: the top five batsmen does not include Matthew Hayden or Michael Hussey as they did not play many matches.

Likewise, the top five bowlers have captured 21 fewer wickets than their RR counterparts.

Here's a look at what makes the CSK tick, what their weaknesses are and what they'll need to watch out for.

STRENGTHS

þ     The King of Indian Cricket, the CSK captain MSD: Captain Cool has brought together some Australian and South African superstars and some Indians and led the team with great maturity and skill. The credit goes to him for bringing out the best from a team that missed its biggest stars, Haydos and Huss, for much of the competition.

þ     The Dependable Consigliere: In Suresh Raina, MSD has a very dependable batsman who can adjust his game to the needs of the situation. He was the top scorer for CSK with 421 runs at 38 and an outstanding strike rate of 143, next only to Albie Morkel. With the form Raina is currently in, he is surely going to send some balls into orbit. Bowlers, watch out!

þ     The Return of the Jedi: Haydos, the warrior, will be back for a full season. With him having retired from international cricket, the CSK will now have a lot of fire power at the top of the innings.

þ     Enter Captain Flint: Fearless Freddie will join the CSK army with the tag of the most expensive player in the IPL at a price of USD 1.55 million. He will play a pivotal role in the CSK’s success with his fine all-round abilities.

WEAKNESSES

There aren’t many here. The openers, Stephen Fleming and Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan, did not provide good starts last time though Parthiv Patel was impressive at times.

But this time around, Hayden should be there for the whole series. Along with Patel, he should provide some strong starts.

The bowling line-up does not boast of big names apart from Murali and Ntini. Gony had an impressive season last timer where he was the leading wicket-taker for the CSK. However, Laxmipathy Balaji and Joginder Sharma were very expensive.

The attack, thus, does not have a lot of depth and when under pressure, it vulnerable to break up. Having said that, lot of credit should be given to the captain MSD who has done a fantastic job managing with such an attack.

OPPORTUNITIES

This season throws open opportunities to plenty of local talent. Here are a few guys to watch out for.

Ravichandran Ashwin: The Tamil Nadu all-rounder is coming off a great Ranji (first class) season with 24 wickets and 229 runs at an average of 38. He also scored a crucial unbeaten 100 against Railways. He can be effective with his off spinners and his big-hitting can come in handy as well.

Abhinav Mukund: The Tamil Nadu opener was the highest run getter for his side in the recent Ranji season scoring 856 runs at a stupendous average of 86. The 19-year-old southpaw has been a prolific run scorer in the domestic circuits for the past few years. He did not get much of a chance to play last season.

If he does get a few chances, he’ll surely make people sit up and take notice.

Anirudha Srikkanth: Much like his famous father Krish Srikkanth, Ani is an attacking opener who plays with reckless abandon. He has powerful hooks and pulls in his repertoire making him an ideal Twenty20 player.

He was a key player in the Tamil Nadu team that lifted the T20 National Championship in 2007. He was the fourth highest run getter then which prompted the selectors to pick him in the Indian probables’ list for T20 World Cup in South Africa. One can expect fireworks when he’s batting.

THREATS

The biggest threat for the CSK, and indeed the IPL, is the threat to players’ security against acts of terrorism. After the attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore, international players are starting to have doubts on whether to tour India or not.

The Ashes 2009 may force Flintoff to skip the IPL and prepare for that big series. While there have not been any official news regarding this, it seems like a good possibility. In such an event, team CSK will surely miss the services of the talented all-rounder.

THE KEY PLAYERS

Batsmen

M S Dhoni (C, Wk)

Matthew Hayden

Michael Hussey

Suresh Raina

Subramaniam Badrinath

Murali Vijay

Parthiv Patel (Wk)

All-Rounders

Andrew Flintoff

Albie Morkel

Jacob Oram

Albie Morkel and Jacob Oram are the other superstar all-rounders in the team. Oram is getting back to his best with the ball in the present series against India at home. Albie had a fantastic ODI series with the bat, Down Under.

They will be key elements in the CSK’s plans.

Bowlers

Muttiah Muralitharan

Makhaya Ntini

Manpreet Gony

Laximpathy Balaji

Joginder Sharma

Murali, the maximum-wicket taker in ODIs and Tests, will play a crucial role in controlling the run rate. The Sri Lankan wizard did not taste much success in terms of wickets but was quite economical. He’ll look to make amends.

Newbies

Besides Freddie, the other newcomers are the Sri Lankan all-rounder Thilan Thushara and George Bailey, a middle order batsman from Tasmania.

Coach

Former New Zealand captain and opener for the CSK last season, Stephen Fleming will replace Kepler Wessels as the coach.

The Chennai Super Kings will host the Bangalore Royal Challengers in their first match. A contest that could potential spark some brilliant fireworks is Kevin Pietersen against Andrew Flintoff.

Will MSD be able to add yet another feather to his cap? Can team CSK cross the final hurdle? They certainly have the talent to do that.

They have a balanced team which does not rely on few big players. They are a close-knit team and back each other up. Their ground fielding is outstanding.

Last but certainly not the least; they have a talismanic captain who is presently taking Team India to dizzying heights.

The stage is set. Let the games begin!

I accept that the Indian Premier League has been an unprecedented success. I also accept the fact that it was being held for the first time, and so glitches were bound to be there.

But one thing I cannot accept is the poor planning of the finals by Lalit Modi and the IPL Board. For a tournament of this scale and following, there should have been at least one "rest-day" given to the players playing the second semifinal between the Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings.

For whatever reason, the final was played on the next day. I'm sorry, but that is shambolic to say the least.

The fact is that twenty-20 is a demanding game for the players. The fielders have to be on their toes for a 120 balls and the batsmen and bowlers alike have to concentrate 150 percent for their time at the crease or for their quota of overs.

I don't think that the IPL Board would have had a major issue playing the final one day later or do something to give a level-playing ground to both the teams competing in the final. The Royals got one day off and the more importantly, the Super Kings got none.

After all, it is a game played on the international stage and not some joke.

The Chennai Super Kings would have, as MS Dhoni said, gone back to their hotel rooms after the semi-finals and slept, woke up the next day morning and expected to be fit for a final.

How exactly is that possible after playing a high-octane semi-final?

In a test match, players wouldn't field and bat on the same day (at least, with the same level of intensity or duration). They might do nothing in one day as well. So, to come out the next day and perform is normal.

If a batsman has played a long innings, he can even rest for a part of the next day with a substitute fielder on for him during that period.

So, the question, "how can players do it in a test match and yet not in twenty-20?" is not valid.

Chennai's fielding was quite obviously sluggish in the final and the effort that they had put in the previous game (in this case, the previous day as well) seemed to be telling on them.

Had the game been played with a day's break for Chennai, my feeling is that it would have been played on a level playing field.

Although the IPL has been a resounding success, there will always be a doubt in my mind as to why Lalit Modi and the others planning the schedule of the IPL couldn't use some common sense and plan the Final—the most important game of the tournament—in a better manner.

The Rajasthan Royals edged past Chennai Super Kings in the inaugural Indian Premier League Final tonight at Mumbai. Rajasthan, captained by Shane Warne, made Chennai bat after winning the toss. Chennai made 163/5 in their twenty overs and the Royals had to wait till the last ball of their twentieth over to edge the game and finish at 164/7.

Chennai had a brisk start with S. Vidyut and Parthiv Patel getting an opening stand of thirty-nine runs. Suresh Raina then came in and played a very good inning of forty-three runs. Parthiv Patel was the next to depart, with the score at sixty-four runs. Albie Morkel was promoted up the batting order and hit two superb sixes but got caught by Kamran Akmal while attempting a third.

With the score at ninety-five for three, the captain of the Super Kings, MS Dhoni, walked out onto the pitch with a point to prove. Suresh Raina and Dhoni got together and looked threatening before Raina hauled out to long off with Shane Watson picking up yet another wicket in the tournament.The score at that stage was 128 runs.

The Super Kings couldn't gather any momentum in the final few overs but finished off nicely at the end of twenty overs with a competitive 163 runs.

The Royals came out battling with Swapnil Asnodkar playing some characteristically cheeky shots. His partner, Neeraj Patel looked uncomfortable and got battered and bruised by Ntini's body-line bowling. He perished trying a rash shot to Manpreet Gony with the score at nineteen.

Asnodkar and Kamran Akmal fell in the same with Albie Morkel over with Rajasthan in a spot of bother at forty-two for three.

In came Yusuf Pathan, who along with Shane Watson steadied the ship to put on a partnership of sixty-five runs before Watson was bowled by Muralitharan. Yusuf Pathan played some superb shots which included some superb sixes hit off Muthiah Muralitharan.

Mohammad Kaif came in and played a brisk innings of twelve runs off nine balls which included a six off Murali. Ravindra Jadeja then came in and got out off his first ball, leaving Rajasthan at 139/6. Warne walked out and before he could settle, Pathan was run-out by a superb bit of fielding by Raina, who had incidentally dropped Pathan when he was on thirteen.

Pathan had done the damage by then with fifty-three runs.

The match got into a nervy finale with eight runs required off the last over.

L.Balaji, who had been expensive in his three overs had been entrusted with the twentieth over. He bowled a rather unnecessary wide with the batsman running across for an extra to add insult to injury to the Chennai players.

The scores were then level with a ball remaining and Tanvir made contact with the ball and ran home to secure Rajasthan a well-deserved IPL Title.

The Chennai Super Kings played very well, albeit lacked in their fielding due to their second match played in as many days. They were left heartbroken but MS Dhoni staunchly supported his players at the end of the game.

The win meant that Rajasthan Royals won a 1.2 million dollar cash prize, with Chennai getting 600 thousand dollars. The two teams have now qualified for the Champions T-20 which will be held tentatively in September with the top two teams in Australia and England (as of now) also participating in a Champions League format.

Man of the Match : Yusuf Pathan (Rajasthan Royals)

Player of the Tournament : Shane Watson (Rajasthan Royals)

Under-19 player of the Tournament : Sreevats Goswami (RC Bangalore)

Fair Play Award : Chennai Super Kings

The Chennai Super Kings have romped to a victory over the Kings XI Punjab by nine wickets to claim a place in the final of the inaugural Indian Premier League.

Chennai, who were made to field first by Yuvraj Singh, held Punjab to a very poor 112-8 at the end of 20overs. Dhoni gave the Punjab openers a shock as Muthiah Muralitharan bowled the first over of the match, a move which I feel contributed to James Hopes falling from the next over to Makhaya Ntini.

This was followed by a great deal of sportsmanship by Kumara Sangakarra who walked after being caught behind even though umpire Daryl Harper failed to hear a nick. Yuvraj Singh then fell after being brilliantly caught by Muralitharan at short mid-wicket.

The wickets just kept falling, as Shaun Marsh played across the line to Ntini and played-on to get bowled. Irfan Pathan ran himself out in a suicidal manner and Mahela Jayawardene got caught behind to leave Punjab high and dry at 45-6 after 10 overs with Manpreet Gony and Makhaya Ntini having done majority of the damage.

The lower order contributed more than the top order with Wilkin Mota and Romesh Powar taking Punjab to a paltry 112-8 at the end of 20 overs.

Chennai started off rather shakily after Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan got out to Irfan Pathan in the third over. However, some sensible batting by Parthiv Patel and some tremendous hitting from Suresh Raina meant that Chennai eased to a win with five overs to spare.

At the end of the game, Yuvraj Singh seemed to be dejected while his international captain for ODIs and T-20, MS Dhoni, was left to rejoice.

It was a thoroughly professional performance from the Super Kings and this win means that the final of the IPL will be between the Rajasthan Royals and the Chennai Super Kings tomorrow at the DY Patil Stadium in New Mumbai.

I cannot wait for the final. It is going to be a mouth-watering contest for sure.