IPL 2014: Highlights from the UAE leg
Punjab have been on a roll this season and appear the favourites to win their maiden IPL title. With five wins on-the-trot, Punjab have become the first team to register eight successive victories in IPL, overall. Comfortably sitting on top of the IPL points table with 10 points, they would be oozing with confidence on their return to India.
Maxwell, you beauty!!
So much has been written on Glenn Maxwell - the man behind Kings XI Punjab's brilliant show in IPL 7. With 300 runs in five matches at a staggering average of 60 and an eye-popping strike-rate of over 200, the Australian has been the show-stopper in the UAE. Maxwell left everyone spellbound with his audacious stroke-play, jaw-dropping switch hits and reverse sweeps. Well, so far there has been no stopping Maxwell and it would be interesting to see how the opposition camps draw their strategies on the league's return to India in order to prevent themselves from getting hammered by Maxwell. Lynnsanity!
There were some unbelievable and ashtonishing catches taken in the 20 matches played in the UAE, with some of them proving to match-winning efforts. One of those was taken by Kolkata Knight Riders' Chris Lynn, a screamer against Royal Challengers Bangalore, on April 24. The catch became the talk of the town, went viral and made Lynn a hero in just his second IPL match. But the best part was that it helped Kolkata snatch a win from the jaws of defeat.!
Lynn's heroics, first with the bat and then on the field, will live on in the hearts of IPL fans. The Aussie took a blinder at the boundary in the final over of the game to send back AB de Villiers and deny RCB a win that looked theirs until De villiers was on the crease. The Australian positioned himself well, raised himself and then arched backwards to get the ball. He then followed it up brilliantly by dragging his body forward enough to make sure that he doesn't land on the other side of the boundary rope. Virat Kohli's Swayamvar!
How can the Indian Premier League be complete without some Bollywood drama! You have seen Adam Gilchrist, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni shake a leg in previous editions of the league. This time the drama went a step ahead. On the night of the gala opening dinner, KKR owner and Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, along with heatthrob Deepika Padukone, set the stage on fire by dancing to some popular Bollywood numbers. Shah Rukh the asked MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli to join him on stage. After a bit of leg-shaking, the KKR owner decided to set the stage up for Kohli's Swayamvar. After asking the dashing Indian batsman to spell out the qualities he would want in his bride, Shah Rukh made his best efforts to find a suitable girl. And when the Badshah of Bollywood, as Shah Rukh is popularly known as, settled on the last option and uncovered the photo, Virat was left speechless and blushing. The photo was of none other than Bollywood hottie Anushka Sharma, who Virat has allegedly fallen for. Aaron - the speed cannon!
You don't often see an Indian bowler hitting the deck at over 140 kmph, but Varun Aaron, bowling for Bangalore, constantly breached the 140-kmph barrie and bowled at an average speed of over 142 kmph. With eight wickets in four matches, Aaron is also number two on the wicket-takers' list behind Sunil Narine. And Bangalore would be counting on Aaron's show to take them forward in this edition. When even a Super Over couldn't break a tie!
Match tied. Super Over tied. What would you do now? Well, Abu Dhabi witnessed the most dramatic finish of IPL 7 when neither the customary 40 overs nor the Super Over could decide the winner between Rajasthan and Kolkata, and in the end it was by virtue of a higher boundary count that Rajasthan were declared the winners. At the end of 40 overs, both teams were locked at the score of 152, which pushed the match into a Super Over. But even that couldn't determine the winner with both Rajasthan and Kolkata scoring 11 runs each. As per the tournament rules, boundary count was taken for each team during their innings of 20 overs, which settled the issue in Rajasthan's favour. Gambhir's tale of ducks!!
Opening the innings for Kolkata Knight Riders, skipper Gautam Gambhir scored a hat-trick of ducks - against Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Gambhir now holds the unceremonious record of most number of ducks as an IPL skipper - all with KKR. His tally of eight has surpassed the previous record of seven ducks set by former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist during his IPL tenure. However, Gambhir managed to return to form with 45 in the tied game against Rajasthan. Bangalore hit a new low!
Bangalore hit a new low when Rajasthan bowled them out for their lowest ever total of 70 and then romped home in 13 overs to win by six wickets in Abu Dhabi. Bangalore's 70 was also the third lowest total in IPL history, beside being their personal worst. Ironically, it was RCB who dismissed Rajasthan for their lowest total back in 2009. In the second edition of the league in South Africa, RCB packed Rajasthan up for just 58 runs. Gayle and Pietersen return to action!
The explosive Chris Gayle and charismatic Kevin Pietersen were out of action with injuries during the first weeek in the UAE. While Gayle was out of RCB's line-up for first four matches with a sore back, Delhi Daredevils captain Pietersen was missing due to a broken finger and returned only in Delhi's fourth match. On his return against Punjab, Gayle smashed 20 runs off the first over bowled by Maxwell but got out in the next to Sandeep Sharma. Pietersen played two matches against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians, scoring 16 and 26*, respectively. The awful defending champions!
Five defeats in a row is not how you expect the defending champions to start their title defence, but Mumbai Indians have failed to inflate their deflated tyres despite the presence of cricket's who's who on the bench. Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Anil Kumble, Jonty Rhodes and John Wright - one can't ask for more strength on the bench, but it's the non-playing bunch. One couldn't have asked for a more formidable thinktank, but still the team has lacked the fire it showed last season. Mumbai fans would hope that the title-holders show some hunger and desire after their return to home, but it will now be an uphill task for MI to defend their trophy.
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