Monday, May 25, 2009
Numbers that mattered in IPL 2009
MUMBAI: And finally, we can sit down to have a look at some amazing numbers that summarise the wonderful DLF Indian Premier League 2009 season in South Africa. It has been an amazing journey and let us re-live that one more time.
16320 Runs scored in the tournament. The first edition had seen 17937 runs being scored.
1317 Number of fours hit in the tournament. In the last edition, 1702 fours were hit.
697 Number of wickets that fell in the tournament. In the 2008, 689 wickets fell.
572 Chennai Super Kings Matthew Hayden ended the tournament as the most successful batsman with 572 runs at an average of 52.00 in 12 matches.
506 Number of sixes hit in the tournament. As many as 622 sixes were hit in 2008.
164 Runs scored by Royal Challengers Bangalore's Manish Pandey before getting out for the first time in the tournament.
93 Number of ducks recorded in the tournament. Herschelle Gibbs topped the tally with four ducks.
67.06 Manish Pandey’s unbeaten 114 against Deccan Chargers in the last league match constituted 67.06 per cent of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s total - the highest by any batsman in a match.
42 Golden ducks recorded in the tournament, Jacques Kallis (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Rajat Bhatia (Delhi Daredevils) and Sanath Jayasuriya (Mumbai Indians) did so twice each.
29.68 Percent of runs scored by Chennai Super Kings came from only Matthew Hayden's bat – the highest contribution by any batsman in his teams' runs.
29 Deccan Chargers captain Adam Gilchrist topped the list of six-hitting batsmen with 29 sixes in the tournament.
28 RP Singh and Harmeet Singh bowled the most expensive overs of the tournament in the match against Kolkata Knight Riders. RP Singh started the over and had to be removed as he bowled two waist-high no-balls. By that time RP had conceded eight runs off just one legal delivery. Harmeet Singh had to complete the over and he conceded 20 runs off his five deliveries.
23 RP Singh ended up with 23 wickets in the tournament - the most by any bowler in a single IPL tournament. Before the match, he was tied with Sohail Tanvir who had taken 22 wickets in 2008 edition.
20 Number of maidens bowled in the tournament. Lasith Malinga was the only bowler to bowl two maidens.
14 Sixes hit off the bowling of Praveen Kumar and Shane Warne - the most conceded by a bowler in the tournament.
9 Lasith Malinga's victims who were bowled out of a total of 18 wickets that he claimed.
8 Number of stumping dismissals effected by Adam Gilchrist in the tournament - the most by any keeper. Gilchrist's tally of 18 dismissals was also the highest by a keeper in the tournament.
7 Number of batsmen who got out without facing a single ball (Piyush Chawla suffered that fate twice).
6 Number of times a batsman ended a match on winning note with a six.
6 Lasith Malinga and Dirk Nannes shared the record of inflicting most ducks in the tournament with six each.
3 Hat-tricks seen in the tournament, Yuvraj Singh (twice) and Rohit Sharma were the bowlers involved.
2 Number of centuries scored in the tournament AB de Villiers (Delhi Daredevils) and Manish Pandey (Royal Challengers Bangalore) made the centuries. There were six centuries in the first edition.
1 Only one batsman became a victim of the nervous 90s. Suresh Raina made 98 against Rajasthan Royals at Centurion and returned to the dug-out believing that he had completed his hundred.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Quick Recall: The Final: Deccan Chargers beat Royal Challengers Bangalore
Match No. 59: The Grand Final, Royal Challengers Bangalore vs. Deccan Chargers
When: On May 24 makes it the milestone day of cricketing history.
Where: At the Bullring with President Jacob Zuma making his first big public appearance since his inauguration in Pretoria
Who won: Deccan Chargers overpowered Royal Challengers Bangalore by six runs
Man of the match: Six years after the World Cup final. Anil Kumble had a chance to stop Adam Gilchrist in his tracks. He did that but failed to win the crown.
MVP of the match: Pragyan Ojha for proving that his captain Adam Gilchrist can actually come good on prediction about the match.
What'd he do: He turned the game upside down with his spell of three for 24 which handed the crown to Deccan Chargers.
Turning points: When Ross Taylor and Virat Kohli fell off successive deliveries, it was game, set and match for Deccan Chargers.
Innovative stroke: Andrew Symonds was threatening to run away with the game with his breathtaking strokeplay for which he stepped out, made room and generally lit up the day.
Dot-ball heroes: Anil Kumble led the way with a brilliant spell in which he bowled 14 dot balls. But Ryan Harris bettered him with 15 dot balls but could not match the class of Kumble.
Captain vs. Captain: Anil Kumble bowled a brilliant spell which swung the match for Royal Challehgers Bangalore but Adam Gilchrist was inspirational on the field in the way he held his nerve and led his young charges towards a famous title win.
Off-beat moment: The closing ceremony was more spectacular than cricket has seen ever. Oh for an encore, anytime!
Delhi Daredevils get a place in Champions League: Modi
Delhi Daredevils get a place in Champions League: Modi
The inaugural edition of Champions League to be held in India from October 8-23 with record prize money of US $6 million at stake. A total number of 12 teams, with three from IPL scheduled to be part of the competition.
JOHANNESBURG: If you thought you would take time off to recover from the pressure-packed action of DLF Indian Premier League, think again. For if you were on the edge of the seat with eight teams in competition, then brace yourself for this. Twelve of the best Twenty20 club sides from all over the world taking part in a fortnight's battle for the top prize, the Champions League Twenty20.
A total prize money of US $6 million will be at stake as the best sides in the world will vie for the crown and the right to be called the best Twenty20 side in the world. This would be the highest prize pool in cricket
At a press conference here on Sunday morning, hours before the grand final of DLF IPL, it was announced that 12 teams would be taking part in the in the competition. Announcing the launch of the competition, Chairman and Co-ordinator Lalit Modi informed that the 12 teams would be drawn from India, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and England.
“The venues will be finalised shortly. It will be announced with a draw on June 23 in London. There will be an official draw of the teams that are participating. And the final venues will be announced then. The 12 teams will be represented by two teams from Australia, two from South Africa,two from England, one each from West Indies, Sri Lanka and New Zealand. And three from India,” said Modi.
We all know that Royal Challengers Bangalore and Deccan Chargers qualify for being the finalists in this edition of DLF-IPL, but a third has been accommodated by the governing council of the Champions League which includes the member boards of India, South Africa and Australia.
So which is the third team? “The way the three teams will qualify from India is two teams that have reached the final. And the team that topped the league, that is Delhi Daredevils. Going forward from year two of Champions League and year three of the IPL, the teams will be determined on the basis of the two finalists and the two other semifinal teams being involved in a play-off,” he added.
The Chairman said that with IPL moving out of India this year, it became important that a top Twenty20 tournament like Champions League was held in India to whet the appetite of the fans back home. The number of teams in Champions League has gone up from the eight scheduled to be part of the tournament in December 2008 before terrorist attacks on Mumbai forced the tournament to be postponed to October 2009.
This format is pretty simple and in some ways could be likened to the World T20 scheduled to be held next month in England. The 12 teams will be divided in four groups of three each. The top two teams from each group then qualify for a knockout stage, from where the top four enter the semifinal stage. A total of 23 games are scheduled to be held in the competition.
Fasten seat belt for another fantastic ride
The End. These words nearly always bring along a sad connotation. But if you look carefully, they are also nearly always accompanied by two other words - New Beginnings. That has rarely been more evident that on the climactic day of the second edition of DLF Indian Premier League in South Africa.
A few months ago, we thought we had seen the last of champions like Anil Kumble and Matthew Hayden. How wrong we were! Like Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne, they made new beginnings in IPL 2009 season. Of course, we will not see them on the international stage again but they showcased the competitive streak that was so palpable in their Test and ODI careers.
And now, with just one game left for new champions to be identified, it is wonderful that Kumble and Gilchrist will be walking out for the toss at the Bull Ring aka the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Sunday evening. They have both been inspirational leaders - and not just because their teams are competing for the Rs 2.40-crore top prize.
Look at how they kept calm even under pressure when their decisions at the toss came under question early in their respective semifinals. If it is true that the whole team - young and old - looks at the leader and picks up the vibes, then Gilchrist and Kumble have ensured that they have only sent out the right vibes to their colleagues.
Delhi Daredevils were 83 for two in 10 overs, thanks to Virender Sehwag and Tillekeratne Dilshan's spectacular counter-attack, but were stopped at 153 for eight in 20 overs. Similarly, Chennai Super Kings were 54 without loss at the end of six overs of Power Play but Kumble used his resources well to restrict the opposition to 146 for five in 20 overs.
Also, pause a moment to look at how they drew the best from hitherto unknown names like Tirumalasetty Suman, Harmeet Singh and Ryan Harris in Gilchrist's case and Manish Pandey or B Akhil or Vinay Kumar in Kumble's case. To my mind, their success lay in their ability to instill confidence in these players
Above all, Gilchrist and Kumble have been in the forefront of performers for their teams – and thus put themselves in a position from which they could encourage and demand that others rally around them, even when they have courted the odd failure themeselves. With 495 runs and 17 wickets respectively, Gilchrist and Kumble have been their teams' most valuable players.
At iplt20.com, we have had fun bringing together stories - news and views - both in text and video forms from South Africa. The BCCI and IPL team members were of immense support to us. The late nights turned in by dozens of my colleagues in the content and technical teams, not to speak of our management, have all been worth it. The weariness from lack of sleep vanishes in a jiffy when we are told that there have been six million page views every day.
Of course, I have not forgotten there is one game left before the winner of DLF IPL 2009. Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore will strain their every sinew to achieve the crown but I know you have been a true winner already. You have made IPL such a grand event with your participation. And now, fasten your seat belts. Enjoy the end of a wonderful edge-of-the-seat, heart-n-your-mouth ride.
League Leaders
Matthew Hayden (Chennai) 
- Matches: 12
- Runs: 572
- Balls: 395
- SR: 144.81
- Avg: 52.00
- HS: 89
Rudra Pratap Singh (Hyderabad) 
- Matches: 15
- Avg: 18.22
- SR: 15.1
- Wickets: 22
- Econ: 7.20
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