Royal Challengers Bangalore (vs) Chennai Super Kings

 What a match !!! This was indeed a surgical victory. The way the mammoth score of 205 was chased down by CSK will wake up the sleeping giants for the rest of the series. Probably a thing for other teams to worry about. Having said that, as the competition heads towards the middle stages, the rest of the teams need to do the same. But seriously such wins always inspire the teams to insanity. Csk players played their roles with perfection. They gave their respect to Vettori, Zaheer and Murali but mercilessly massacred the rest of the bowling attack. This is a good example of strategies of keen cricket learners. Gayle must be heart-broken but then thats the nature of the game. You got to move on to the next match forgetting the previous match. The series is open to all now.

Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings

 

A great start by the Mumbai Indians and I think it was an usual start by the Chennai Super Kings. A loss in the 1st game doesn’t really count much when there are about 16 matches to be played. The game may be very short to stage recoveries but the duration of the tournament has been long enough to make fans witness lots of ups and down of their favorite teams. There were a few sparks in the match that really predicts a flashier tournament by players in both the teams. Having said that, I am not taking anything away from my favorite Mumbai Indians. There can be only 1 winner and in this match Mumbai Indians outdid Chennai Super Kings in all the 3 aspects of the game – batting, bowling and fielding. Execution is such an important bridge that leads to success.
Talking about the sparks, I loved couple of shots by Bravo. What a utility player he is! CSK did a very brilliant things by getting him in but I still fail to wonder why Ravinder Jadeja was the most expensive player this year? He is a good player but his good luck is a mystery. Bollinger and Morkel also seems to be in good touch. Levi, what can I say about him? He looked a little fazed when the innings started but then he composed himself and butchered the CSK bowling. Great to see a 50 runs opening partnership for MI. Sachin Tendulkar looked like the man he was in 1998. The six over covers was one of the most gorgeous shots he used to play. Heart warming to see that come up with intent.
However, I was not happy with the scores. This kind of scores isn’t good for T20 cricket. Especially in IPL when being played in the sub-continent. Hoping it was the pitch and this won’t be the trend in the rest of the matches to follow.
Great match tomorrow. KKR vs DD, my team. Its either Delhi or Mumbai who will win the IPL this year.