[NPV]

Wow, DD Vs SRH was a good watch tonight.

Rishabh Pant played some outrageous shots and absolutely demolished Bhuvaneshwar. He stood way outside the crease and picked the length of the ball perfectly smashing them over the boundary, brilliant!
SRH chase was so composed, calculated and meticulous that they made it look so easy. Kane Williamson proves again why he is so highly rated as a great captain and thinker, leading from the front.

Shame to see such a superb innings of Rishabh Pant go in vain, but that's how T20 cricket is many a time.

[PPS]

Pant is certainly one of the hardest hitters of the cricket ball in India at present. His knock is special as it came against SRH who have the best bowling line-up in the IPL.
Problem for DD has been their overseas players have been a huge let down! Cannot believe the hopeless Maxwell has gotten so many chances (perhaps due to Ponting).

[NPV]

It was good to see RR winning against CSK to make this years edition more interesting and competitive.

Though it did seem like RR huffed and puffed to victory, it does take some effort to cross the line when the opponent is CSK. CSK are masters in chasing and when defending, they seem to really have a stranglehold in the closing overs due great bowling and fielding in the death overs.

[Nonstop-driver]

Originally Posted by NPV

.. they seem to really have a stranglehold in the closing overs due great bowling and fielding in the death overs.

Yep. MSD thought the match was his before the 19th over. He was visibly upset when Willey was going for runs. Even in the post-match presentation, he blamed it squarely on the bowlers.

[pratyush6]

CSK aren't the best team going around. Their bowling is horrendous and they cannot for the love of God defend anything. For MSD to think to bat first in any game is based on hope and nothing else.
It defies cricketing logic, this games wasn't one for experiments - should have chased. Why try to change something that's working well for them. Almost every match, they don't seem to know what total to aim at.

MSD probably also knows, this IPL and probably the next are his last and wants this desperately - hence you can see him losing cool on this bowlers. I mean to dish up length seam up on this track was just begging to be hit.

I expect MSD to pull up the bowlers and they come good for the next couple of games. Think their last 3 are SRH, DD & Punjab. SRH are the team to beat and with Dhawan back in form, it's going to be tough for anyone to beat them.

Think my 4 playoff teams at this stage are SRH, MI, Punjab and CSK.

[NPV]

Wow, another thrilling match today - KXIP Vs MI.

More than MI winning, it seemed.like KXIP lost it by throwing it at the end. Feel sorry for KL Rahul, superb knock in a losing cause!

[PPS]

Don't think Yuvraj has been so humiliated in his entire career! Not that he has a great IPL or T20 record.
With Stoinis & Axar batting ahead of him, KXI Punjab were better off not playing Yuvraj in the first place.

Seems like Punjab is crashing out of the tournament. Rajasthan have been weakened due to Stokes & Butler going back to England.

[RavenAvi]

What the heck did I just see?! AB DeVilliers IS Superman!!

Simply out-of-the-world. THE catch in all of IPL history, possibly in all of cricket history.

Rooting for RCB.

[NPV]

Awesome match RCB Vs SRH, happy to see RCB on the winning side.
AB De Villiers and Moeen Ali played good knocks after Kohli got out early. The bowling was also top notch though there were moments when it seemed like SRH will manage a win. IPL games either need better cameras and footage or better 3rd umpires! Definitely seemed like Southee had taken a great catch but Alex Hales was given the benefit of doubt!

[Eddy]

He's proved most people wrong - Congrats Magician Singh Dhoni !!

[pratyush6]

This CSK team is a slap on the face of most critics; fully deserve the win - they beat the most highly regarded team of the critics (SRH), not once or twice but four times! People like Sanjay Manjerekar & Akash Chopra specially give themselves a reality check.

You just don't count that old dog out! And he is the top dog. What a player, what a skipper and what a man - MSD, take a bow! (Yes, I am a fan).

The game wasn't perhaps worthy of a final, but I think everyone would agree, we all expected SRH to come far closer than what they did. And despite seeing off 8 overs of Rashid and Bhuvi for next to nothing, they won rather comfortably. Ridiculous I must say. (Dr.) Watson was clinical, you could almost see it coming, when CSK just didn't panic after the superb start SRH had. That's experience for you!

This was probably the best IPL so far - very close, only if RCB & DD came to the party a bit earlier, this would have been even better. The next year IPL would most likely be either in SA or Dubai (atleast some part of it); it just won't be the same.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by pratyush6

This was probably the best IPL so far - very close, only if RCB & DD came to the party a bit earlier, this would have been even better.

Absolutely. This was definitely the best IPL ever.

Also, the Star TV coverage was much better than Sony. Hindi commentary and post match shows were revelations, although I missed Gaurav Kapur.

The next year IPL would most likely be either in SA or Dubai (atleast some part of it); it just won't be the same.

There are talks of the Lok Sabha polls being held earlier than expected, so you never know.

[pratyush6]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Absolutely. This was definitely the best IPL ever.

Also, the Star TV coverage was much better than Sony. Hindi commentary and post match shows were revelations, although I missed Gaurav Kapur.

Coverage was good, I found the main English commentary horrible (the Dugout though was very good)
I did not miss GK, he was on Cricbuzz, which was absolutely killing it! Guests on Cricbuzz were such a breath of fresh air, shows what corporate interests do to a show. Simon Doull, Harsha, Joy Bhattacharya and Zak! They absolutely nailed it.

I actually saw a couple hindi post matches, they were actually far better than their english counterparts (who seemed by any standards way below par).

[murillo]

Originally Posted by pratyush6

Not that they have a lot of bench strength. And knowing MSD, I wonder why he settled on a old lot of players - Yes, they do well under pressure but in the field they are just not good. I fear if they start to fail, CSK won't be much of a team - and that's what most experts seem to agree on.

As of now, my top 4 would be, Hyderabad, Punjab, Kolkata and Rajasthan. If Rajasthan screw up,then one among CSK/MI would get a chance.

Originally Posted by pratyush6

CSK aren't the best team going around.

MSD probably also knows, this IPL and probably the next are his last and wants this desperately - hence you can see him losing cool on this bowlers.

Think my 4 playoff teams at this stage are SRH, MI, Punjab and CSK.

Apparently CSK has upended all your theories.

P.S.: I actually waited for exactly 40 days to post this.

[pratyush6]

Originally Posted by murillo

Apparently CSK has upended all your theories.

P.S.: I actually waited for exactly 40 days to post this.

Just was worried about them If you have followed my posts, didn't know how you missed my rather over the top defense of MSD (across formats..not just IPL) And yeah, I do believe in jinxes. I did not celebrate till they actually had just 2 runs to get today

BTW, I did have apprehensions about their fitness, never much doubts on MSD.

On Punjab - No could actually foresee them having such a meltdown, MI looked good till the last game, they would have been serious contenders in the playoffs (had they made it). They should have won that game against DD, but screwed it up royally!